Effects of three intramedullary pinning techniques on proximal pin location and articular damage in the canine tibia

The effects of three different techniques of intramedullary (IM) pin placement on pin location and incidence of stifle joint injury were evaluated using 70 cadaver canine tibiae after mid-disphyseal osteotomy. In 50 tibiae, pins were placed retrograde in either a nondirected (group A) or a craniomedially directed fashion (group B) with 25 tibiae in each group. Pins were driven normograde (group N) in 20 tibiae. All the stifles were dissected to qualitatively evaluate pin interference with different joint structures. End-on radiographs of the tibial plateaus were used to quantitatively evaluate pin location. Interference with the caudal cruciate ligament, medial meniscus, lateral meniscus, or meniscal ligaments was not observed in any group. There was a significant association between pinning technique and incidence of involvement of the cranial cruciate ligament (P < .005), patella (P < .001), patellar ligament (P < .005), and femoral condyle (P < .01). Pin location for group A was significantly different from either other group in a cranial-caudal direction (P = .003), and was significantly different from group N in a medial-lateral direction (P = .005). No significant difference was observed between pin location for groups B and N in either plane. It was concluded that although nondirected retrograde pinning cannot be recommended, retrograde pins directed craniomedially may be an acceptable technique for the repair of proximal to mid-diaphyseal tibial fractures if care is taken to properly seat the pins.