Clinical Evaluation Of Novel Barrel Plating Technique For Proximal Third Femoral Fractures In Dogs

Abstract

The study included recording the incidence and etiology of proximal femoral fractures, standardization of measurements of femur bones in dogs, and designing of the novel Veterinary Barrel Plate (VBP), designing of custom-made instrumentation set for barrel plating, biomechanical study of the VBP, cadaver study for standardization of barrel plating technique and clinical study on dogs presented with proximal femoral fractures. The study was conducted in the Department of Veterinary Clinical Complex, College of Veterinary Science, Sri Venkateswara Veterinary University, Tirupati between November 2021 to October 2023. Proximal femoral fractures accounted for 36.7% (n=32) of the total femur fractures (n=87) recorded. Highest incidence was observed within the age group of 1-2 years, males were more commonly affected, left limb was more affected, nondescript dogs had the highest incidence; most being recorded as simple and proximal third diaphyseal fractures and commonest etiology was automobile accidents. newlineRadiographic measurements of 270 femurs of healthy dogs were recorded and the average measurements were divided into 3 groups according to the femur lengths as small, medium, and large sized dogs. Veterinary Barrel Plate system was designed and xxiii manufactured according to the standardized measurements of medium sized dogs. Biomechanical studies were undertaken to evaluate the mechanical properties of the VBP and bone-VBP construct in which the bone-VBP construct proved superior in strength than the VBP alone. Cadaver study was conducted for standardization of Veterinary Barrel Plating procedures. Clinical study was done in 12 clinical cases of proximal femoral fractures in dogs divided into two groups in which 6 dogs were treated using VBP under CArm guidance (group I) and 6 dogs treated using straight LCP (group II) as implants. Pre operative evaluation and intra operative observations were recorded. Post operative evaluation was based on clinical, radiological, haematological and biochemical studies on 15th, 30