Seven weeks after surgery and physiotherapy, Poppy was able to start walking again
Dog Facing Death Walks Again After Near Fatal Neck Fracture
12 months ago 
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A much-loved dog, who fractured her neck and was at risk of dying, has been saved by vets at Chestergates Veterinary Specialists who conducted complex spinal surgery.
Poppy, a four-year-old Labrador, had been running into a field with high grass when she suddenly yelped and collapsed on the floor - unable to move and unconscious.
Owner Emma Flanagan, who lives in Manchester, immediately rushed Poppy to her local veterinary practice where she was told that her condition was grave.
They advised that Poppy needed to be taken to Chestergates Veterinary Hospital in Chester to see if its leading team of veterinary neurologists may be able to help. So Poppy was directly transported on immobilisation stretcher.
Upon admission and neurological examination, Poppy was quickly stabilised, then taken for MRI and CT scans of her cervical spinal cord to evaluate the extent of her injuries.
They uncovered that the trauma of the accident had badly fractured Poppy’s first cervical vertebrae with secondary atlantoaxial subluxation. The trauma was causing spinal cord and medulla oblongata compression and severe intraparenchymal haemorrhage at the caudal medulla oblongata. This damage was causing loss of function in all four of her limbs, serious breathing difficulties and pain.
The team knew they urgently needed to conduct spinal surgery to fix the fracture in Poppy’s neck, as without it she would be at risk of dying suddenly.
Surgery took numerous hours, involving the expertise of neurologists, orthopaedics, anaesthetists, and specialist referral nurses - for continuous monitoring and surgical assistance.
A combination of SOP plate, screws and bone cement were carefully used - with great precision - to realign and stabilise Poppy’s fracture. She was then hospitalised in high dependency unit for several days.
Incredibly, only seven weeks after her successful surgery and physiotherapy, Poppy was able to start walking again unassisted. Two of months on, she is comfortably walking without discomfort with an excellent quality of life.
Simone Spinillo, Specialist in Veterinary Neurology who led the veterinary team, said: “The severity of Poppy’s spinal injury and the associated neurological damage in this case required meticulous planning and precision during the procedure. Watching her regain her ability to walk and seeing her back with her family is incredibly rewarding and highlights the astonishing resilience of these animals.”
Recently celebrating its 20th anniversary, Chestergates Veterinary Specialists is a pioneer of UK veterinary neurology - from the development of MRI in veterinary medicine in the nineties, surgical management of syringomyelia[1] in the noughties, vastly increasing knowledge of many neurological diseases in the 2010s, to using advanced techniques such as 3D-printed guides for spinal stabilisation in 2020s.
With state-of-the-art facilities and employing some of Europe’s leading veterinary specialists, Chestergates now offers a wide range of specialist-led services including orthopaedics, cardiology, soft tissue surgery, anaesthesia and analgesia, ophthalmology, internal medicine, diagnostic imaging and neurology and neurosurgery. For more information visit: www.chestergates.org.uk.
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