Abstract
Aim:We performed a retrospective study to evaluate clinical complications and outcomes associated with non-operative management of pelvic fractures in dogs and cats and described owner satisfaction.Materials and Methods:Based on radiographic findings and fracture location, case records were classified into two groups. Group 1 included animals with acetabulum involvement that underwent conservative treatment plus femoral head-and-neck excision. Group 2 included animals without acetabulum involvement that underwent conservative treatment only. Compliance with rest instructions, time to locomotion recovery, and the evaluation of persistent lameness were data collected from the questionnaire. The level of satisfaction was classified as excellent, good, or bad. Clinical outcome was evaluated at least 10 months after the fracture.Results:Pelvic injuries included sacroiliac luxations (59.52%) and ilial body (35.7%), acetabular (21.4%), pubic (21.4%), and ischial (14.28%) fractures alone or combined. According to the owners, the proposed strategy yielded good to excellent outcomes in dogs and cats in this study, with 95.23% of animals regaining full function of their hind limbs. Two dogs had slight chronic lameness, and some degree of gait abnormality persisted.Conclusion:Because of financial constraints, the chronicity of fractures, or lack of surgical techniques, the surgical treatment of pelvic fractures may not be possible. Non-operative treatment can then be considered to allow the animal to return to acceptable function.
Highlights
The previous studies have reported that pelvic fractures represent 16-32% of all fractures in dogs and cats [1,2,3,4,5], with this rate being 16% in dogs and 25% in cats [6,7]
The proposed strategy yielded good to excellent outcomes in dogs and cats in this study, with 95.23% of animals regaining full function of their hind limbs
The therapeutic procedures were applied in the frame of the surgical consultations of dogs and cats presented to our institution
Summary
The previous studies have reported that pelvic fractures represent 16-32% of all fractures in dogs and cats [1,2,3,4,5], with this rate being 16% in dogs and 25% in cats [6,7]. Such fractures are associated most commonly with traffic accidents or a fall from a height [1,3,6,8,9,10,11,12]. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated
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