Venus' Updates - Her Surgery Was A Success

After boarding at our clinic for the past 4 weeks, her skin was finally cleared of the scabies infection and she was ready for her bone surgery to fix her dislocated hip.

She was transported to our West branch at Sunset way for the surgery on 30 Sept.

Venus under general anaesthesia with a tube in her airways to deliver fresh oxygen and anaesthetic gas to her lungs.

A monitoring device was hooked up to her to monitor her heart rate, breathing rate and blood oxygen saturation levels during the surgery.

X-ray of her hip was taken before the start of her surgery. Dislocated hip is on the left.

Due to the trauma and chronicity of the injury, the head and neck of the dislocated hip was starting to break down - these are the dark grey areas in the bone circled in pink.

 
 

Robert, the head technician at the West clinic, is preparing the site for surgery.



Some of the tools and equipment used during the surgery.

The principal operating surgeon, Dr Simon Quek (left), assisted by Dr Ang Yilin

A cut was made on the side of her left thigh to expose the dislocated hip. As the injury was present for a long time already, there was a lot of unwanted reactions of the surrounding tissues causing a lot of adhesions and attachments to the bone which would normally not have been present.

Venus underwent a procedure known as Femoral Head and Neck Excision (FHNE) where the head and neck of the femur bone were removed.

It was not possible to replace the femoral head (ball of the hip joint) back into the socket as all the ligaments that would normally hold it in place have snapped from the accident; the hip joint would have easily dislocated again if it was attempted to be manually replaced.

With the hip joint dislocated, the head of the femur was constantly rubbing across the pelvis causing a lot of pain. With the head and neck of the femur removed, there would be no more friction between the bones, and hence, no more pain. The thigh muscles will hold the leg in its normal position and eventually she will be able to walk and run on the leg as before but possibly with a slight limp.

Post-op x-ray film

Venus, half hour after her surgery. Still slightly groggy but looking a little brighter.



A pain-killer patch was applied to her skin. This patch would deliver pain-relief round the clock for the next 3 days.

Venus back at Redhill branch

Venus was transported back to the Redhill branch later in the evening where she will spend the next one week recuperating from her surgery.

We would like to thank Dr Ang Yilin of Mount Pleasant Animal Medical Centre (Redhill) for her kind contribution of this article, the use of her photographs and for giving us all an insight of what goes on in the operating theatre.

Venus' surgery bill. Dr Simon Quek kindly gave us a 50% discount on Venus' surgery. Outstanding balance is $949.

We would like to thank EVERYONE who has made a difference in Venus' life. Her massage therapy, regular healthy meals, her many visitors who came to see how she was coping, the staff at Redhill branch for doting on her and going out of their way to make her feel more comfortable and all the friends and animal lovers who helped contribute to her medical bills.

Venus' surgical procedure took one and a half hours, which was considered rather long, and thus, she was not able to be sterilized. Any longer and it would have put her at risk. Venus will be sterilized on Wednesday at the Redhill branch, after which we will have no options but to return her to the streets.

We are hoping against all odds that from now till the end of the week, someone big hearted would offer to adopt Venus. We know Venus hopes for a home and family to call her own too.