A comparative study between stainless steel and titanium elastic nails in the surgical management of canine juvenile femoral fractures

Abstract

This prospective clinical study included 16 dogs presented with femur fracture, with no dog more than 12 months of age and were randomly divided into two groups; Group 1 (n=9) treated with stainless steel elastic nails and Group 2 (n=7) treated with titanium elastic nails. Signalment (breed, age, gender, body weight) and history (aetiology, duration of fracture and limb involved) were recorded on the presentation of patient, which was followed by clinical and radiographic examination to record fracture characteristics (site and type of fracture). Post-operatively, functional outcome was assessed on the basis of weight bearing status which improved in both the groups without significant difference. However, a few complications were observed in both the groups which included distal migration of implant (n=3) and osteoarthritis and quadriceps contracture (n=1) in Group 1 and distal migration of implant (n=2) and delayed union (n=1) in Group 2. One case in Group 1 and two cases in Group 2 needed implant removal. The functional outcome and rate of complication at the end of the study, however, was found to be comparable in both the groups and hence, it was concluded that both the implants provide comparable stability for the repair of femoral fractures in growing dogs.