Retrospective Evaluation of Challenging Delayed Union and Non-Union Encountered in Dogs: 16 Cases (2012-2018)

Abstract

This case series aims to showcase some challenging delayed union and non-union cases, explain their possible causes and the treatment processes they underwent. Most non-union cases included in this study required at least two surgical interventions.The main reasons for the consecutive interventions were compromised vasculature of the soft tissues due to extreme trauma and infection. The final successful procedure for cases with excessive soft tissue trauma was external fixator application. Bone plates were more successful in cases where infection was the main cause of the non-union or in cases where poor owner compliance played a significant role. Minimally invasive external fixator application seems to be efficient in preserving the compromised vasculature of the bone while bone plates show better results in cases with localized infection.Using cerclage wires in non-union cases should be avoided because they hamper the periosteal blood supply. Harvesting bone grafts from the iliac crest was very practicable, required little time and should be utilized in every possible non-union case © This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0