Severely broken wing. UPDATED with pics

[Pumpkinpup]

Update on Dickie's condition. This afternoon after re-evaluation of the wing and noting that there is still plenty of blood flow to the wing and nerves are intact, we opted to do a way out there splint consiting of BBQ skewers, cardboard, vet wrap and duct tape! It seems mush easier for him to balance himself with and he is alert and eating and drinking as usual. He seems moderatly content considering his situation and I can't help but believe he somehow knows we are trying to help. Our "McGiver" truss up job is not pretty by any means but I think it will serve our purose here as it allowed us to leave the open wound site exposed to be treated and checked freely without compomising the structural support of the splint each day. With much hope and fingers crossed I know play the waiting game as he starts his healing process. I have been told to give him 1/4 cc of injectable Pen-Aqueos Procaine G and have him in a small confined area that only allows him minimal movement to prevent re-injury. He calls me when I get out of his site so I know he is aware of what is going on. We put a towel over his head when doing the setting and splint to minimize the trauma. He took it very well considering it required removal of some feathers and manipulation of the very swollen and damaged wing. Poor guy! I sure hope he makes it!

 

[speckledhen]

Im crossing my fingers for your boy. I would be at a loss myself, if I had such an unfortunate bird. It will probably heal okay, but may be stiff from now on. Hope no infection sets up in there. Good job.

 

[dlhunicorn]

That wing is incorrectly bandaged >it needs to be a wing-body wrap. I have an illustration but it is pdf or microsoft word...I cannot post the photos here.
You have a pm

 

[lockedhearts]

We bandaged it according to vet instructions to leave the wound open so that it can be treated. I think that Robin plans to keep a good eye on it and re-evaluate in a couple days to decide if we need to do anything further.
We both spoke with the vet last night and she urged us to leave access to the actual wound so that it can be cleaned daily.
We did body wrap last night and honestly it seemed more traumatic for Dickie, he did not even try to stand and the wrap was not tight or constrictive. After we splinted the way we did today he was able to stand and seemed less freaked out.

 

[Pumpkinpup]

This morning the patient seems very alert and normal in appetite and water consumption as well as good in spirit. He hollers when I get out of his site so I am taking his demandingness as a sood sign. He acts pretty much like the "Old Dickie".
I attempted repeatedly to access information on a figure 8 bandage to stabilize a wing to no avail. I will keep looking as I want to be able to decide if it can even be applied in this particular situation without pressing the break apart again. The humerus is broken clean through at a very very sharp angle and is very close to the shoulder joint in the wing. Almost any pressure to the wing itself in a inward direction will press the break apart once more and thus defeat the purpose of splinting it in the first place. Unfortunately neither Karen nor myself have enough medical training to drill and apply pins and there are no avian vets anywhere near here. We have both done what we felt was needed under the telephone direction of a very good local large animal vet who had worked with a raptor recovery unit in New Mexico years ago.
This was a definate stretch for all involved because of how bad the position of the break was. I will continue to update as changes are made to his treatment or he progresses.

 

[speckledhen]

I'm very glad you have the attention of a vet who did the raptor recovery! That is so fortunate for you.

 

[lockedhearts]

Quote:
This vet is also my Large Animal vet and is Awesome! She is practical, to the point and not all about the $$ like a lot of vets. She is also willing to think outside the box , which can make a big difference in some cases.

IMO the fact that Dickie is acting more normal now than he was on Friday when we had him wrapped, is an indication that he is comfortable and hopefully relatively pain free. Setting the bone is near impossible, but it is in as close a position as is probable without actual surgery. It is fairly stable in hopes of keeping the bone inthat position to give it all chances to heal.
While the combination of duct tape and vet wrap is not astetically pleasing it seems to serve it's purpose. The vet did say that keeping the wound clean was imperative, which is the main reason we wrapped the way we did.

 

[Zookeeper9000]

Well good job as far as I am concerned. I been following Sadie's thread and that is how I heard of this one. I am keeping all in my prayers.

 

[Pumpkinpup]

Thank you so much, Zookeeper. Your thoughts and prayers are much appreciated!!! So are everyone else who is following this thread whether you comment or not, just know that we are thankful for you all!

 

[dlhunicorn]

Quote:
I sent you a link to a video (are you unable to play the video contained within the powerpoint presentation or were you unable to find the powerpoint presentation?)...the body wrap (see the avianmed pdf) is basically extending that and leaving the other wing free so I unless you were wrapping both wings to the body I dont see how that would have bothered him? You will indeed have to be creative with the wrap and stabilisation measures (it is very important that that wing NOT move!) and I am thinking perhaps you can create a "window" in the bandage so you can clean and disinfect the area that you need to deal with , without having to entirely remove the wrap/figure of eight bandage... (hmmm bandage first completely then cut a square "window" to allow access and then plaster the edges of that "window" or duct tape it so it does not come loose or unravel?)

Did you get the two emails with attachments?
Do you have chlorhexidine or novalsan to disinfect?