Sky’s road to recovery

Sky is a sweet eleven and a half year old female German Shepherd who has had remarkable patience throughout her treatment journey. Her case has been especially unique, requiring an innovative and multifaceted approach to address her chronic wound.

Sky developed a non-healing wound on her left elbow due to chronic ulceration, which resulted from thin skin over a thickened, osteoarthritic joint. In addition to this, she suffers from osteoarthritis in multiple joints.

Initially, the wound was treated as an open wound due to infection, and we performed debridement and closure twice. While the wound initially healed, it dehisced due to pressure necrosis of the skin over the elbow joint, despite efforts to provide deep bedding for protection.
To further promote healing, the wound was debrided once again, and a bipedicle skin flap was performed. A cast was applied for two weeks to immobilise the area, aiding the healing process.
We then designed a fully articulated, padded orthotic to alleviate pressure on the wound site when Sky lies down. The orthotic is removable, allowing Sky to exercise freely.

Thanks to these interventions, Sky’s elbow wound has healed completely. The medial releasing incision has nearly healed, while the lateral incision is taking a little longer to recover. The orthotic was designed with the flexibility to accommodate dressings if needed, and we continue to change these every few days until the wounds are fully healed. Sky will need to wear the orthotic long-term to prevent the recurrence of the ulcer, but as shown in the photos, she has adapted to the orthotic exceptionally well!