The 2012 Veterinary Orthopedic Society meeting

The 39th annual meeting of the Veterinary Orthopedic Society (VOS) was held March 3–10, 2012 in Crested Butte, Colorado. The VOS is the major professional organization promoting scholarly work in veterinary orthopedics in North America. Presentations of interest to small animal practitioners included the following. A retrospective study of over 12 000 seeing eye dogs (Labrador retrievers, German shepherds, and golden retrievers) was presented. Breeding decisions over 8 generations spanning 30 years were made based on hip-extended survey radiographs as a means of detecting hip dysplasia changes. In the later half of the study period, dogs were also evaluated for hip laxity by means of PennHip radiographs. The PennHIP (Pennsylvania Hip Improvement Program) is a method in which distraction radiographs are taken as a means of objectively evaluating hip laxity. A laxity score, called a distraction index (DI), is produced and is predictive of future hip dysplasia-related degenerative changes in the hip. Analysis of the data showed that while the hip extended radiographic phenotypes at 12 to 18 months were all judged as normal in the last generation, from 82.9% to 96.5% of these dogs had DI’s sufficiently high to suggest susceptibility to hip osteoarthritis. Further, the heritability of the normal phenotype on hip-extended radiography was relatively low ranging from 0.16 to 0.39, whereas the heritability of DI ranged from 0.56 to 0.60. This would make DI a good criterion for breeding selection in a population of this type (1). Radius and ulna fractures are common in small breed dogs and have a high incidence of complications, specifically delayed-and non-unions. Twenty-three diaphyseal radius and ulna fractures in dogs 6 kg or less were treated with bone plating. Nine of the fracture repairs were augmented with a 2 to 3 cm2 piece of free autogenous omentum that was wrapped around the plate and bones at the fracture site. The investigators hypothesized that vascular endothelial growth factor in the omental graft would promote neovascularization, callus formation, and healing. The limbs were radiographed every 2 weeks until radiographic healing was achieved. The mean time to healing in the group that received an omental graft was 70 days (range: 28 to 98 days) and no complications were recorded. The remaining fractures that were not grafted served as a control group. The mean time to healing for this group was 91 days (range: 56 to 144 days). Six of the controls developed osteopenia and had their plates removed with 4 of those re-fracturing 1 to 5 months later. Autogenous cancellous bone graft is more commonly utilized to promote healing in these fractures; however, an omental free graft could be another useful option to replace or, more often, augment cancellous graft (2). How often do you perforate your surgical gloves during a procedure? How often does this happen without your knowledge? Surgical gloves (2132) from 363 procedures at the Ontario Veterinary College were subjected to the water leak test at the conclusion of the procedure. Leaks were found in at least 1 glove in 26.2% of procedures. Furthermore, those wearing the gloves were aware of the perforations less than 1/3 of the time. Risk factors for glove perforation included increased surgical duration (> 1 hour), and orthopedic procedures, especially those involving power tools or surgical wire. In these circumstances double gloving or the use of thicker “orthopedic” gloves might be indicated (3). Many surveys have identified a slight preponderance of spayed females amongst dogs with cranial cruciate ligament rupture. More recently, a link has been suggested between spaying before 6 months of age and steeper than normal tibial plateau angles, a risk factor for cruciate rupture (4). A medical records search was conducted to determine if any link could be drawn between age at the time of spay surgery and the likelihood of cruciate rupture later in life. Medical records from 130 spayed female large breed dogs with cruciate ruptures were analyzed to determine the age at which they were spayed and how that might relate to their risk of cruciate rupture as compared with a control group of 68 spayed female dogs without cruciate rupture. The analysis found a 1.6× greater risk of cruciate rupture in dogs spayed at 6 months of age or younger compared with dogs spayed at later ages. A significant linear trend towards decreasing incidence as the age at time of spay increased was found. While many factors must be considered in determining when an individual patient is spayed or neutered, this appears to be additional evidence to suggest that sterilization before 6 months of age, especially in larger breeds prone to cruciate disease, may not be advisable (5).

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