Abstract An 11-month-old Labrador Retriever, weighing 32 kg, was referred for evaluation of persistent pelvic limb lameness following a fall from a moving pickup truck 8 days previously. Radiographic and arthroscopic evaluations of the stifle joint revealed a medial abaxial fracture of the distal pole of the left patella with 2 fragments (11 mm × 6 mm and 7.4 mm × 4.5 mm) mildly displaced mediodistally. Further radiographs with the stifle in flexion and extension showed an intact patella tendon mechanism. Fracture repair was not performed due to its small size and an intact patella tendon mechanism. Arthroscopic partial patellectomy was performed through medial and lateral parapatellar portals. The large fragment was arthroscopically removed, whereas the smaller fragment, which was embedded in soft tissues, was debrided with an arthroscopic burr. No intraoperative complications occurred. Activity restriction was continued for 6 weeks postoperatively. The dog showed an excellent long-term clinical outcome with return to normal high-energy function 2 years postoperatively. Arthroscopic partial patellectomy to manage a patellar fracture has been described previously in only one other canine case. This report provides further details of this technique and highlights the viability of this minimally invasive approach for similar cases.
Evans et al. (Thu,) studied this question.