Assessment of fracture healing after minimally invasive plate osteosynthesis or open reduction and internal fixation of coexisting radius and ulna fractures in dogs via ultrasonography and radiography

Objective-To evaluate fracture healing after minimally invasive plate osteosynthesis (MIPO) or open reduction and internal fixation (OR IF) of coexisting radius and ulna fractures in dogs via ultrasonography and radiography. Design-Prospective cohort study. Animals-16 dogs with radius-ulna fractures that underwent MIPO (n = 9; 2 dogs were subsequently not included in the analyses because of incomplete follow-up information) or ORIF (7). Procedures-Dogs in the 2 treatment groups were matched by age, body weight, and configuration of the fractures. Fracture healing was evaluated with ultrasonography, power Doppler ultrasonography, and radiography every 3 to 4 weeks until healing was complete; a semiquantitative score based on the number of Doppler signals was used to characterize neovascularization, and subjective B-mode ultrasonographic and radiographic scores were assigned to classify healing. Results-Fractures in dogs that underwent MIPO healed in significantly less time than did fractures in dogs that underwent ORIF (mean +/- SD; 30 +/- 10.5 days and 64 +/- 10.1 days, respectively). Radiography revealed that fractures in dogs that underwent MIPO healed with significantly more callus formation than did fractures in dogs that underwent ORIF. Although Doppler ultrasonography revealed abundant vascularization in fractures that were healing following MIPO, no significant difference in neovascularization scores was found between groups. Conclusions and Clinical Relevance-For dogs with radius-ulna fractures, data indicated that bridging osteosynthesis combined with a minimally invasive approach contributed to rapid healing after MIPO. The MIPO technique may offer some clinical advantage over OR IF, given that complete radius-ulna fracture healing was achieved in a shorter time with MIPO. (J Am Vet Med Assoc 2012;241:744-753)