10 month old incongruent elbow joint, opinions? - Page 1

My ten month old male had his elbows x-rayed yesterday because he had two bouts of random lameness/pain that went as quick as it came.  Only lasted for a few minutes.  I thought it was Pano, but vet said incongruent elbow joint.  We are going to get a second opinion from an orthopedic surgeon, but just wanted to see if anyone has any opinions..Its his left elbow that is problematic.  Any chance he could grow out of this..?

left - right


 

My experience with elbow problems is that they are nagging, consistent and don't go away.  When the dog rises first thing after sleeping they will be favoring or limping on the injured or affected elbow but may eventually stop favoring it until after strenuous exercise. The second opinion sounds like money well spent as elbow problems are difficult to diagnose and CT scans are often needed to see the actual problem rather than relying on X-ray alone.  Doctors and Veterinarians don't give money back guarantees .. they are often wrong but as long as you are burning your money, time and risking your dog's health they are happy as can be. The left looks better than the right to me.  I would put him on Adequan or generic equivalent and let him grow some more.  If he needs surgery 10 months is not the ideal time to do it as he is still adding bone and skeletal structure. 

it has been my experience that elbow xrays at that young age are unreliable---even more so than
hips.  i would xray elbows again @ age 2 when doing the hips & see if they are complete by then.
wishing you luck with your dog. 
pjp
***http://www.peakveterinaryreferral.com/specialty-services/surgery/elbow-dysplasia/


 

Thanks for the responses.  He is not favoring or limping on either front leg.  I dont notice anything different after strenuous exercise, or when waking.  His legs dont appear stiff at all.  He only sometimes has an easty-westy appearance to his front feet, but not all the time.  A second opinion from a board certified radiologist/orthopedic surgeon is where I am headed next...I hope my vet was wrong!  I can post more pictures, I am not sure if his growth plates are closed or not.  I am going to buy Dasquin[?] or Cosequin[?] supplements for him.  He currently is supplemented with Nupro Joint and Salmon Oil, as well as coconut oil occasionally.  He is fed about 75% raw, but I only recently made the switch. He was not sedated for these xrays so I do not know how great they are position wise.  Here are the radiographs taken by my GP vet.  The vet said incongruent joint of the left elbow.

They're not positioned right to see what we are more familiar with looking at, that is, the typical OFA-style lateral flexed view. They sedate them so they can really flex them tight and you can see a true portrayal of the joint conformation. 

I wouldn't go looking for problems just yet; it may very well have been pano. Let the specialist do proper xrays and go from there. I would wait if he's not showing any discomfort and no OCD lesions or anything ugly like that are apparent. Most vets are not familiar enough with normal growth and development phases of large breeds. 

incongruent is growing at different rates..........i'd let him mature and see if they come out right.