Treatment of proximal tibial fractures by cross pin fixation in dogs

The study material was composed of nine dogs 2.5-9-month-old which were brought to the Clinic of the Surgery Department. Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Ankara between 1992 and 2001 with proximal tibial fractures diagnosed with clinical and radiographic examinations. The incidence of proximal tibial fractures was much lower than that of other tibial fractures in this period. Under the Salter-Harris classification, 2 cases were of type I, 5 cases were of type II and 2 cases had metaphyseal transversal fractures detected using radiographic and clinical examinations. For treatment of proximal tibial fractures in cases with dynamic growth periods, the cross pinning fixation technique can be used, which affects growth plates much less and can be recommended for this kind of fracture. Depending on size Kirschner wire and Steinmann pins were used and evaluated over periods extending to 5.5 months. During this period there were no differences or complications in the healing period, normal closure of the growth plate was observed between the relevant side and the opposite side, and all cases were treated functionally. No difference was recorded in terms of the mean of complication occurrence. At the end of this clinical study, we concluded that the cross pinning technique can be used for reduction on proximal tibial fractures in dogs in the growing period. In addition our study shows that this treatment method does not cause early closure of growth plates and is a very functional way of treating proximal tibial fractures in immature dogs.