STABILIZATION OF FEMORAL AND HUMERAL FRACTURES OF DOGS AND CATS USING INTRAMEDULLARY PIN AND PARACORTICAL FIXATION WITH PINS AND POLYMETHYLMETHACRYLATE

Abstract

Fractures are very frequent affections in clinical routine of dogs and cats, and several methods of stabilizing them are proposed in the literature. In this work, a new technique for stabilization of femoral and humeral fractures constituted by the use of intramedullary pin and paracortical pins fixed with polymethylmethacrylate was evaluated. Twelve animals (six cats and six dogs) were used. Three of them had humeral fracture and the others had femoral fractures. The bone healing was evaluated by radiographic monitoring 30, 60 and 90 days after the surgery. It was observed, immediately after the deployment of the technology (trans-operative period), that the method effectively neutralized the forces of rotation, bending, shear and axial displacement, providing degrees of alignment and adequate affixing; however, over time, the required stability did not remain, causing delay in bone union of some animals. Moreover, wound dehiscence, integrity loss of the implants and osteomyelitis were observed. This approach to fractures stabilization is applicable only to transverse fractures or slightly oblique ones, and can be considered inefficient, facing the number of imperfections observed during the research.

KEY WORDS: Cats, dogs, fracture, orthopaedics, surgery.