Leczenie braku zrostu septycznych złamań kości przedramienia i kości podudzia u psów

Material and methods

Inclusion criteria

The medical records of dogs with antebrachial and crural infected nonunion fractures admitted to the Department of Animal Pathology of the University of Turin and treated using the methods of Ilizarov using CESF between 2006 and 2011 were reviewed. Infection was confirmed when a positive culture was obtained from a sample retrieved from the nonunion site. Dogs were only included in the study when radiographs and documented results of a physical examination at the time of fixator removal were available.

Information obtained from the medical records included breed, gender, age and body weight of the patient. Fractures were classified by the affected bone (radius and ulna or tibia and fibula), fracture localiz-ation and whether the fracture was closed or open. Open fractures were classified as type I, II or III according to a system pro-posed by Gustilo and Anderson (20). The number of previous surgical operations and methods of fixation were recorded. The time elapsed between the initial injury and application of the CESF for the treatment of the nonunion fracture was recorded. Information obtained at the time of the revision surgery included: the presence of draining tracts, the range of motion in the joints adjacent to the fracture, and the degree of lameness. Range-of-motion was estimated clinically and compared with that of the unaffected contralateral limb. Lameness was graded by one of the authors (BP) on a scale from 0 (no lameness) to V (consistently non-weight-bearing) (appendix 1: available online at www.vcot-on line.com) (21).

Before the revision surgical procedure, standard orthogonal radiographic images were obtained while the patient was under general anaesthesia. If a linear fixator was present from the initial surgery and judged to be unstable, the fixator was removed before radiographs were obtained. The nonunion fractures were classified by one of the authors (BP) according to the Weber and Ce...