Surgical repair of a severely comminuted maxillary fracture in a dog with a titanium locking plate system

A four-year old male Labrador Retriever was admitted with head trauma after being hit by a car. The dog had sustained multiple nasal, maxillary, and frontal bone fractures that resulted in separation of the maxilla from the base of the skull. A severely comminuted left zygomatic arch fracture was also present. These fractures were all repaired using a point contact, locking titanium plate system, in a single procedure that resulted in excellent postoperative occlusion and immediate function. Healing was uneventful. Full function and excellent cosmetic appearance were evident 13 months after surgery. This case illustrates the ease of repair and the success of treatment of severely comminuted maxillofacial fractures by conforming to basic biomechanical principles taken directly from the human experience and successfully applied to the dog; these included multiple plate application along the buttresses and trusses of the facial skeleton. The plate fixation was applied to bridge the multiple fractures along the most appropriate lines of stress. The small size of the plates, and the ability to easily contour them to adapt to the bone surface in three-dimensions, allowed their placement in the most appropriate positions to achieve sufficient rigidity and lead to uncomplicated healing without any postoperative complications.