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Just had the Vet ring me up as my dog has had his elbows X-rayed this morning, as he has been limping for a few weeks. He's snapped a Titanium screw that runs through his left elbow!
He has elbow Dysplasia and broke the right side (his limping side) badly when he was a young dog and had to have it screwed and pinned. He also had issues with his left side, so we had that one done as a precaution too, the side that's snapped isn't bothering him though whic is really strange!
When I go down to pick him up I'll try and get pictures 😉
sorry to hear that about your dog.i hope it gets better soon.
Blimey, is your dog Samuel L Jackson from the film 'Unbreakable'?
Limping ??? - tell him to DTFU.
My Springer has 2 titanium rods either side of a vertabrae and a plate over the top, now thats hardcore.
Akin to this but top and both sides:
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Hope yous is ok though - get the pics up of him.
Our dog has had two TTO operations. There's a large titanium plate and a selection on screws in each of his rear legs.
When his time is finally up, I'm going to weigh him in for scrap.
Ok only took one photo of his broken leg.
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I had just thought it was the pin he had broken, but its the leg broken too!
This leg isn't the one he's limping on though! 😉
How could a titanium screw break like that ? 😕
btw is that his left bollock dangling there, or his name tag ?
Looks like a case of metal fatigue in the joint but I'd be worried about the big metal bollock though.
Metal fatigue? Well I'm no orthopaedic surgeon but I wouldn't expect any movement in that screw, considering where it is, certainly not to an extent that titanium would have trouble dealing with.
LOL at the metal fatigue, it should have no pressure on it at all, it's only there to hold the two parts of the bone together!
The vets were gob smacked that he has put so much pressure through it to break the bone and snap a Titanium pin!
I do wonder if Lynskey manufactured the pin?
probably not a titanium screw just a steel one from B&Q that's what was suggested to the NHS as surgical titanium screws and plates are seriously pricey I know I sell them.
Could be just the bone flex/movement over time has caused this interesting though maybe is the vet keeps records of the implants (screw) you can get it reported back to the manufacturer and if it is due to product failure they may offer/have to pay for replacing it.
Just a thought
The hard part is how the **** are they going to get the remains of the screw out?
Obviously the head part is simples, but the remaining part is going to be very expensive I reckon!
Lots of holes drilled round it with an eighth bit, then knock it back through using a thin nail punch, should do it. Well that's what I would do anyway.
EDIT : It needs to be a parallel nail punch like this, not the more common tapered type. [img] 
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ernie, ever heard of a stud extractor
I take the DTFU comment back - inappropriate I was gutted when Bradley got hurt - I cried like a child for days.
The screw has only been in there for 12months!
The trouble is this is one seriously crazy dog! At home he sits quietly and in fact when I got back to the vets this afternoon they hadn't got him in the cages he was sat behind their desk being stroked!
But when he gets out and sticks his nose to the ground, he is on crazy hunting dog, he will go anywhere try anything and has no thought for his own body!
ernie, ever heard of a stud extractor
No, I'm a chippy, it's not something I carry in my toolbag. You'll note that I said how "I" would do it.
a stud extractor would be fine if the materials were similar and the pin were steel, which can be drilled a lot easier. Anyone tried to align disc mounts on a Ti frame?
this dog is pretty hardcore too, or just mental?
http://thechive.com/2011/05/20/one-crazy-hot-dog-video/
swallowed a christmas bauble?
this dog is pretty hardcore too, or just mental?
Yup, that's quite a tough dog.
But this is the meanest, ugliest, nastiest, dog. So nasty in fact, that he chews his own foot.
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^^^^^ 😆
"dog the **** up" 😆
tom, you were late to the party, this had already been done earlier!
Well a little update is in order here.
Last Thursday he went in to have the old pin removed and a new one put in, the vet rang me about four hours later to let me know he had failed getting the broken part of the screw out, he had dug in and gained hold of the tip of the screw, but had been unable to get it out. In the end after a lot of ringing specialists he had to stitch Louis back together and then order a special tool to drill around the screw and hollow the bone out to get it out, so he had to put him under again the next day!
This time he was successful and we now have a nice big screw set up in his leg, he had to put it in the wrong way round medially instead of lateral due to the damage caused getting the old screw out but it should be all fine!
The dog doesn't care at all, this evening we went in to get the soft plaster removed and all I could here in the back was the vet trying to keep him under from running around everywhere 😉
At the weekend I finished building up my new Chumba and he was resting in the back of my car, I slung my leg over the new bike and realised 100 yeards up the road I realised there was my dog limping along behind me!. He got told off severely, put back in the car and made to stay where he was!
Anyway here's the important bit, pictures 😉
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The new screw is twice the size of the old one and is actually used in horses!
steel is real..... and 70p for 20 in B&Q
Ahh but Titanium comes with a lifetime guarantee and never breaks 😉
I'm no vet but I'm fairly certain you could get a new one for what you've paid to repair that old version.
But to be fair in that last picture he does look to have balls of steel.
then order a special tool to drill around the screw and hollow the bone out to get it out.........This time he was successful
So basically he had to do what I suggested then ? .........only he tried to use a stud extractor first ?
You should have told him the first time he had a go that some geezer on a bike forum had suggested drilling round the screw - I know about this sort of stuff. Did he use a nail punch to knock it out ?
Anyways.....glad it got sorted in the end 8)
Hope he doesn't break the new one btw.......looks like it'd be a right ****er to get out 😐
Aye Ernie he did as you suggested, I've done similar before with Alloy cylinder heads with steel bolts stuck in them, I've taken the bolt heads off and then run a tube down the head with teeth cut into it to clear the corrosion between the two!