Occurrence and pattern of long bone fractures in growing dogs with normal and osteopenic bones

A retrospective study was undertaken to record the occurrence and pattern of long bone fractures, and the efficacy of Intramedullary (IM) Steinmann pin fixing in growing dogs. All the records of growing dogs during a 10-year-period were screened to record the cause of trauma, the age and sex of the animal, the bone involved, the type and location of the fracture, the status of fixation, alignment, maintenance of fixation and fracture healing. The results were analysed and comparisons were made between growing dogs with normal and osteopenic bones. Among the 310 cases of fractures recorded, the bones were osteopenic in 91 cases (29%). Minor trauma was the principal cause of fracture in dogs with osteopenia (25%), and indigenous breeds were most commonly affected (38%). Fractures in dogs with osteopenic bones were most commonly recorded in the age group of 2-4 months (53%), whereas fractures in normal dogs were almost equally distributed between 2 and 8 months of age. Male dogs were affected significantly more often in both groups. In osteopenic bones, most fractures were recorded in the femur (56%), and they were distributed equally along the length of the bone. Whereas in normal bones, fractures were almost equally distributed in radius/ulna, femur and tibia, and were more often recorded at the middle and distal third of long bones. Oblique fractures were most common in both groups; however, comminuted fractures were more frequent in normal bones, whereas incomplete fractures were more common in osteopenic bones. Ninety-nine fracture cases treated with IM pinning (66 normal, 33 osteopenic) were evaluated for the status of fracture reduction and healing. In a majority of the cases (61%) with osteopenic bones, the diameter of the pin was relatively smaller than the diameter of the medullary cavity (<70-75%), whereas in 68% of the cases in normal bones the pin diameter was optimum. The status of fracture fixing was satisfactory to good in significantly more osteonormal (59%) than osteopenic dogs (42%). Fracture healing, however, was satisfactory in significantly more cases with osteopenic than normal bones. The appearance of callus was relatively early and the amount of bridging callus was relatively large in greater number of osteopenic bone fractures. Mal-union and non-union were recorded more often in osteopenic cases than in normal cases. However, the incidence of bone shortening and osteomyelitis was significantly higher in normal bones than in osteopenic bones.