Can a torn ligament cause a lump?

[kayla]

Been a while since I've been on here! My dog Kayla (5 year old boxer/lab mix) got a sore shoulder about a year ago. I took her to the vet and they suspected OCD (Osteochondritis dessicans). They said to put her on glucosamine, and if it cleared up that it's likely what it was. I did and the limp got better, until about a month ago it suddenly got much worse.

I took her in and we got some xrays done. They showed she does not have any OCD or problems with her joints or bones (yay), but they saw a spot on the xrays that could be calcification from a torn ligament. They sent me home with some pain killers and said when they would contact a specialist to see if there was a surgery they could do to fix it. The specialist was not convinced it was a torn ligament and said they should have taken one more xray (called a skyline xray) that shows her shoulder from the top.

Anyways that has been set up for 3 weeks from now (they had to refer me to a vet that has this equipement, and they are only open for this on Fridays) so no answers from that yet. However, yesterday I was petting her and noticed a lump over the shoulder blade that has been bugging her, it feels like a fatty tumour or something, and moves around. It does not seem like the type of swelling you would expect from a swollen ligament... I phoned the vet right away and she has not yet gotten back to me and of course now I am worrying that it could be something more serious... Does anybody know if a torn ligament can cause this type of lump?

[kandy]

If one end of the ligament actually snapped, then yes it could cause a lump - although that kind of tear is rare. But if the xrays showed a spot that the vet thinks is calcification from an earlier tear, then the lump should've been there when the tear occurred, if that's what the lump is. I think if she'd torn her ligament that way, you would've known something was majorly wrong the minute it happened.

I would venture to guess that the lump isn't the bunched up ligament.

Good luck with the specialist!

[kayla]

Thanks Kandy! I just heard back from the vet and she thinks it probably does not have to do with the possible torn ligament. She says that where it is is where Kayla got her rabies vaccination, and that some dogs develop lumps from this. She said it may take up to 2 months to heal if this is the case. If it does not go away then we will look further into it!

[KCamden]

Our dog actually has a lump now after having a ligament repaired. I think its just a screw or something. Whatever it is, it doesn't bother her. If she's happy, we're happy.