A few weeks ago we received a call about a Barn Owl in trouble. She was found tangled in a hedge in a rural location, but no-where near any roads. When she arrived with us, it was apparent that the bird had a broken wing.
Thankfully, our specialist vet Dr Elliott Simpson-Brown was due to visit the next day so he brought all of his equipment to be able to help this poor bird. Without access to x-ray, Elliott decided to operate in order to determine whether the break was suitable for pinning. Thankfully, it was a clean break of the humerus, in exactly the right place to make the chance of recovery pretty good.
Dr Elliott Simpson-Brown cutting the metal “pin” down to size while the Barn Owl is under anaesthetic ready for the operation.
The operation lasted about 2 hours, being a very delicate process of attaching metal rods to the broken bones and using an external bridge to keep these stable while the bones healed. After the Owl came round from the anaesthetic, we were pleased that it seemed quite perky, and was happy to eat any food we put in front of it. Within a week we were optimistic that the healing process was working, as there appeared to be no callous developing around the break and the bird was showing itself to be quite agile, despite the metal bridge sticking out from its wing.
Checking the flexibility of the wing after a period of healing with a pin and bridge still in place
After a couple of weeks, Elliott returned to remove the bridge. The external bridge was keeping the bone from moving while it healed, whilst the internal pin kept the join from separating. Once the bridge was removed another x-ray was taken to assess the positioning once again. One of the major risks of pinning a bone is the alignment of the wing post healing. Any misalignment of the bone could cause major issues with flight ability long term, thus ability to hunt and survive. Likewise, any large callus around or over the site of healing could affect joint mobility, and even weight distribution of the wing load, so it is really important to encourage optimal healing for the owls survival.
X-ray showing the perfect heal to the broken wing, with very little callous formed around the break. The metal pin will be removed after a short period to allow the soft tissue time to recover from the operation to remove the bridge.
The break was midway along the humerus bone, a large bone in the upper wing, and clean enough to be a good candidate for this procedure. It is never assured it will be successful until we can assess the healing pattern post surgery (2-3 weeks) and the patient must remain confined not to cause further injury, but able to move enough so the muscles and joints don't start to seize. Luckily for this Barn Owl, the healing could not have gone better. The bone has knitted straight and the callous around the fracture was so minimal it was hard to see where it initially was. The pin and bridge had done it's job so well the owl was able to fly soon after removal.
The pin will remain in place for another week or so until soft tissue swelling has receded to a point it can be removed. Until then she is residing in a large aviary to start strengthening those muscles again.