Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Bone screw and wire fix humerus fractures in young dogs
By Butterworth, Steven J·Published in The Veterinary record·2022·Weighbridge Referral Centre, United Kingdom·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Humeral unicondylar fractures in immature dogs treated using a bone screw and Kirschner wire.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of puppies under 7 months old with humeral unicondylar fractures (a type of elbow fracture) were treated using a special bone screw and wire to stabilize the injury. All the puppies healed well, with no infections reported at the surgery site. While four puppies experienced some complications related to the implants, these were successfully managed by either removing or replacing the hardware. Most of the puppies had excellent or good outcomes after treatment, indicating that this method is effective for fixing these types of fractures in young dogs.
People also search for: puppy elbow fracture treatment · humeral fracture in dogs · bone screw surgery for puppies
Abstract
BACKGROUND: To investigate the incidence of implant-related complications when humeral unicondylar fractures in immature dogs are stabilised with a transcondylar bone screw and epicondylar Kirschner wire (K-wire)/pin. METHODS: Records of cases treated by the author in this clinic over a 10-year period were screened for those involving humeral condylar fractures. These were then reduced to include those patients who were less than 7 months of age with unicondylar fractures and follow-up radiographs. RESULTS: Thirty fractures in 29 dogs met the inclusion criteria. All of these had been stabilised with a transcondylar bone screw and epicondylar K-wire. Fracture healing was documented in all dogs. Surgical site infection was not recorded. Implant-related major complications were reported in four (13%) dogs and successfully treated by either implant removal or replacement. Short-term outcome was judged as excellent in 23 out of 30 and good in seven out of 30 of these fractures. CONCLUSION: The use of a transcondylar bone screw in combination with an epicondylar K-wire is an appropriate fixation method for humeral unicondylar fractures seen in puppies less than 7 months of age.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36047251/