COMPARATIVE EVALUATION OF STAINLESS STEEL AND TITANIUM DYNAMIC COMPRESSION PLATES FOR MANAGEMENT OF LONG BONE FRACTURES IN DOGS
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Date
2023-04
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SRI VENKATESWARA VETERINARY UNIVERSITY TIRUPATI - 517 502. (A.P.) INDIA
Abstract
The present study was conducted on long bone fractures in dogs presented to the
Department of Veterinary Surgery and Radiology, NTR College of Veterinary Science,
Gannavaram and SVVU Super Speciality Veterinary Hospital, Visakhapatnam. The
highest incidence of long bone fractures was observed in mongrel, juvenile, male dogs
with femur bone with the highest frequency. Automobile accidents were the common
etiological factors.
Twelve selected cases of diaphyseal fractures of the radius and ulna were equally
divided into two groups, and the fractures were stabilized with indigenously made
stainless steel alloy (group-I) and titanium alloy dynamic compression plates (group-II)
following standard AO/ASIF procedures. The medial approach was used to expose the
fracture fragments of the radius and ulna for fracture reduction and for rigid stabilization
with the cranial application of DCP. Selection of the appropriate size of plate and screws
according to body weight and type of fracture (3.5 mm plate for dogs above 11 kg body
weight) provided good stability.
Haematological parameters were found within the normal range before and after
surgery probably due to supportive therapy and the absence of post-operative infection.
Serum alkaline phosphatase and phosphorus were found highest on the 7th postoperative
day that gradually decreased up to 90th post-operative day. Serum calcium levels were
found to decreased up to 7th postoperative day followed by an increase with highest value
reached on 90th postoperative day. However, all values were within and near to the normal
physiological limits in both groups of dogs.
Clinical and radiographic evaluation was carried out on the 7th, 15th, 30th, 60th and
90th postoperative days and the findings were compared between both groups. All the
animals regained normal weight bearing early by the 30th postoperative day with excellent
to good limb usage at the end of the study. The amount of callus formed during the process
of fracture healing was felt comparatively less in group-II than that in group-I. There was
no significant difference in the values of fracture healing scores among different groups
during various periodic intervals except on 60th postoperative day, where the scores of
group-II were significantly less than those of group-I. The fractures showed
radiographically excellent postoperative healing by exhibiting the cortical union and
absence of fracture lines. In conclusion, both stainless steel and titanium DCP are good
for the stabilization of long bone fractures in dogs. However, early limb ambulance and
excellent clinical outcome without postoperative complications were observed with
titanium DCP due to its biocompatibility, high corrosive resistance and lower modulus
than with stainless steel DCP. Due to these advantageous properties, titanium DCP is
preferred for the repair of long bone diaphyseal fractures in dogs, even though they are
slightly more expensive than stainless steel DCP.