Hey Laurie
I am pretty excited as I have finally got my first referral from a local specialty practice. I'll be seeing the dog for the first time in 4 days. Oliver is a 10 yr old Flat Coated Retriever who on Aug 14th suddenly went lame after a romp at the off leash dog park. He wouldn't WB on his RFL. Went to Specialists and they did a CT and learned that he had a huge blood clot on the RHL axillary artery and the leg was cool and poor motor and sensation. They put him on blood thinners and within 1 week he was WB quite well. He still is a fair ways from normal and the owners would like him to return to normalcy asap. He will remain on blood thinners for 1 yr.
So I would like to pick your brain on this as I've never treated a thrombi before. I am planning on immediately working on proprioception and balance as I sure that it is greatly diminished with the prior sensation loss. And will work on weight shifting a lot to get him to improve the amt of WB on that leg - including building up to 3 legged stands on unstable surfaces. And of course work on PROM and AROM. But is there anything rehab wise that I should really be aware of with this particular injury, that I should be working on or monitoring?
Thanks for your input.
J.S.
Axillary artery thrombi
Axillary artery thrombi
LAURIE EDGE-HUGHES
Re: Axillary artery thrombi
Hey J.!
Yeah! Great to get that referral!
Okay, so I have only treated one, presumed, thrombi. (Presumed b/c nobody else that the dog had seen had even thought of it... but it fit the picture).
So, Yes, to any and all proprioception. And these cases are good because you can just try anything!
I did laser (for circulation), and the owners did some hot packs (monitored... and really should be called WARM packs...), and they may have purchased one of those little PEMF loops. (HealFast is a more economical option than the Assisi).
Anything that works reflexive / normal movement: toe pinches for flexion, joint compressions for extension.
Really though, it's a matter of function and what is the dog capable of, work with that. Where are the deficits, address those and practice patterns and movements that can improve the issues.
And he should do well!
Good luck!
Laurie
Yeah! Great to get that referral!
Okay, so I have only treated one, presumed, thrombi. (Presumed b/c nobody else that the dog had seen had even thought of it... but it fit the picture).
So, Yes, to any and all proprioception. And these cases are good because you can just try anything!
I did laser (for circulation), and the owners did some hot packs (monitored... and really should be called WARM packs...), and they may have purchased one of those little PEMF loops. (HealFast is a more economical option than the Assisi).
Anything that works reflexive / normal movement: toe pinches for flexion, joint compressions for extension.
Really though, it's a matter of function and what is the dog capable of, work with that. Where are the deficits, address those and practice patterns and movements that can improve the issues.
And he should do well!
Good luck!
Laurie
LAURIE EDGE-HUGHES