Front Matter

Chapter 11 Veterinary Orthotics and Prosthetics 281

patients is as critical to successful outcomes as
it is for surgical patients (Figures  11.9 and
11.13).With regard to patient selection, the
majority of dogs will tolerate and acclimate to a
properly designed, fitted, and adjusted ortho­
sis. Chewing at a device is typically due to a
behavioral propensity to chew objects or an ill‐
fitting device resulting in discomfort. Most
dogs adapt to an orthosis as readily as they
adapt to harnesses and collars.

Prosthetic devices

In general, it is advantageous to re‐establish
a  normal quadruped structure whenever
possible. Fortunately, veterinary patients are
amenable to prosthetic limbs and adapt read­
ily, especially when coupled with prosthe tic‐
specific rehabilitation (Figure 11.14).Congenital
defects, disease (e.g., neoplasia), and trau­
matic injuries can be successfully managed
with custom prostheses (Box  11.2).For distal
limb pathologies such as neoplasia, degloving
injury, necrosis, or nonunion fractures, care­
ful surgical planning provides the opportu­
nity to preserve the functional proximal limb
segments. Subtotal amputation is preferable
therapy to traditional total limb amputation
in many cases.

Figure 11.13 Use of the physioball to encourage
stretch, balance, and proper weight bearing in a dog with
moderate carpometacarpal hyperextension.

Figure 11.14 Dogs acclimate well to prosthetics as seen

in this quad‐prosthetic patient whose limbs were severely

damaged by frostbite‐induced vasculitis and necrosis at 6

weeks of age.

Box 11.2 Specific conditions amenable

to veterinary prosthetic devices

Thoracic limb prosthetics

● Surgical subtotal amputation:

❍ Midshaft radius ulna amputation (50%

antebrachium required)

❍ Radiocarpal disarticulation

❍ Intercarpal disarticulation

❍ Carpometacarpal disarticulation

❍ Midshaft metacarpal amputation

❍ Digital amputation

● Congenital dysmelias (e.g., congenital restric­

tion (amniotic) band, amelia, meromelia)

● Traumatic limb amputation

Pelvic limb prosthetics

● Surgical subtotal amputation:

❍ Tarsocrural disarticulation

❍ Intertarsal disarticulation

❍ Tarsometatarsal disarticulation

❍ Metatarsal amputation

❍ Digital amputation

● Congenital dysmelias (e.g., congenital restric­

tion (amniotic) band, amelia, meromelia)

● Traumatic limb amputation