Healed long-bone fractures in wild birds

Authors: Gill BJ
Publication: New Zealand Veterinary Journal, Volume 36, Issue 2, pp 95-96, Jun 1988
Publisher: Taylor and Francis

Animal type: Avian, Wildlife
Subject Terms: Skeletal/bone/cartilage, Fractures, Disease/defect, Locomotor, Surgery
Article class: Correspondence

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Abstract: If a fractured long-bone is to heal well, it should be immobilised, such as by splinting. Yet, long-bones fracture in wild animals and can heal naturally without splinting. Or do they? It is important to know, because belief in a naturally successful healing process may cause veterinarians and orthopaedic surgeons to be cautious in their intervention. In a section of The Lancet entitled “Dogma Disputed”, Bulstrode et re-examined the original museum material that they believed to be the origin of the generalisations about self-healing fractures in wild animals. They concluded that many fractures evident in adult skeletons seem to have occurred while the animal was still young and that long-bone fractures in adult wild animals are rare and often fatal. This agrees with the attitude developed early this century that all wild animals are healthy because natural selection quickly eliminates the sick and injured…

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