Treatment of traumatic elbow luxation and radius fracture with non-rigid transarticular external fixation and paraosseous clamp cerclage in a cat

Abstract

An 8-year-old, female, neutered mixed-breed cat presented with traumatic elbow luxation and radius fracture due to high-rise syndrome. According to the anamnesis, the trauma had occurred 10 days prior. Therefore, the patient was treated with an open reduction technique. The reduction of the elbow joint was performed with the cerclage transarticular external fixation (CTEF) method. Fixation of the radius fracture was performed using the paraosseous clamp cerclage method. The follow-up time for the patient was 1 year, and the functional outcome was considered fair due to humero-ulnar ankylosis of the elbow joint with 110° of extension. In this case report, post-operative long-term clinical and radiographic results were not as desired. This can be explained by the inability to perform surgery at the desired time, the severity of the trauma, and cartilage damage. However, further cases are required to determine whether this procedure is optimal for the treatment of traumatic elbow luxation in cats.