Antebrachial Fractures: Part 2*

Antebrachial Fractures: Part 2

Radius and ulna fractures are common in veterinary practice and in specific circumstances they can pose a serious challenge for management. In small breed dogs the biology complicates uneventful healing of distal radial fractures but appropriate management with internal fixation can give good outcomes. Autogenous cancellous bone grafts and free omental grafts may be used to promote the biological health of healing fractures. Proximal and distal antebrachial fractures pose their own concerns, primarily as a result of the proximity to (or involvement of) joints and/or physes, and management may require inventive application of Kirschner wires, small plates or external skeletal fixation. Finally, Monteggia fractures are not uncommon and offer the surgeon a challenge of variable severity, often requiring consideration of ulnar fracture fixation and some method to reduce the radio-ulnar and radio-humeral joints.