APPLICATION OF VOSYS-OPTIMA SYSTEM COMPONENTS IN CONSTRUCTION OF HARDWARE LAYOUTS OF MONOLATERAL COMBINATION WITH ANGULAR SUPPORT IN CASES OF TREATMENT OF INTRAARTICULAR KNEE FRACTURES AND DISTAL CIRCUMARTICULAR FRACTURES OF THE FEMUR IN DOGS AND CATS

Abstract

For treatment of prearticular and intraarticular fractures including knee joint area in dogs and cats, as a rule, thin pins, serclage, plates, and their combinations are used depending on fracture area and fracture complexity, which fails to fully provide sufficient stability of osteosynthesis.
 Purpose of the study was to study the processes taking place in the joints of operated animals at prolonged blockage with hardware constructions for the period of healing of the prearticular and intraarticular fractures.
 Scientific novelty. Based on a comprehensive study, the use of monolateral combination arrangements with angular support for the treatment of intra-articular fractures of the stifle joint, as well as distal periarticular femur fractures in dogs and cats, was evaluated. The feasibility of the need to protect the operated area from force during fracture healing was determined.
 Methods. To treat fractures in the knee joint area, polyfunctional monoblocks without a push-back rod, transosseous insertion rods of different diameters depending on the size of the animal, and supports of different diameters with a 125-130° bend were used.
 A total of 16 operations were performed, 5 dogs and 11 cats. The dogs came in weighing from 4 to 15 kg. The age was from 5 to 38 months old. The cats were 4 to 41 months old, their weights ranging from 1.2 to 5 kg. The supports used were 3, 4, and 5 mm in diameter.
 Results. Contracture of the operated limbs in the animals after removal of the hardware constructs in our study was more or less pronounced in the animals with more than 2 weeks of hardware fixation. We did not find the presence of contracture in animals with hardware structures removed after two weeks, while lameness in these animals could be observed from 3 to 12 days, the loss of muscle mass of the thigh in the form of a decrease in its volume was not observed. The picture was similar for both cats and dogs.
 Conclusion. The use of monolateral combinations with angular support for treatment of intraarticular fractures of the knee joint as well as distal circumarticular fractures of the femur in dogs and cats is reasonable in terms of the need to protect the operated area from forceful influences during fracture healing.
 The most physiological period of blocking the area of the knee joint with the external fixation apparatus in our study was from 2 to 3 weeks regardless of the age of the animal.