SURGERY
Advances in Antelope
Fracture Repair
Where are we now?
Luke Poore 1 and Katja Koeppel 2
The Department of Companion Animal Clinical Studies,
Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Onderstepoort
2
The Department of Production Animal Studies,
Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Onderstepoort
1
Luke Poore
Katja Koeppel
Introduction
Fractures of the appendicular skeleton in antelopes
have been infrequently reported in the veterinary lit-
erature. 1-11 The size of South African antelopes varies
considerably from a 3 kg dik-dik to a 900 kg giant
eland making fracture repair challenging. 12
Significant advances in both anaesthetic regimes and
fracture fixation technology in the last 15 years have
now made fracture repair in these antelopes a viable
option. Improvements in knowledge and develop-
ment of techniques for blood transfusions have also
improved the success rate of such surgeries. 13 The
future development of specialist intensive care units
for antelopes in both the pre-operative and post-op-
erative periods will also improve the success rate of
fracture fixation surgeries in antelopes.
Advances in Fracture Fixation Techniques with
Relevance to Antelopes
The aim of any surgical fracture repair is to recon-
struct the original anatomical structures and restore
the function of the fractured bone. Plate and screw
osteosynthesis has been used in clinical settings since
1886, when Carl Hansman used a monocortical fixa-
tor. 14
As implantation techniques have since been refined,
clinical results have been subsequently improved. By
using internal fixation with angular stability, fractures
in the metaphyseal region of bone and in osteoporo-
tic bone have been repaired. 15 The Synthes Locking
Compression Plate (LCP) is part of a stainless steel
and titanium plate and screw system that merges
locking screw technology with conventional plating
techniques. The LCP System has many similarities
to existing plate fixation methods, but has some sig-
nificant improvements. Locking screws provide the
ability to create a fixed-angle construct while utilizing
familiar Association for the Study of Internal Fixation
(AO) plating techniques.
A fixed-angle construct provides advantages in os-
teoporotic bone or multifragmentary fractures where
traditional screw purchase is compromised. This is
particularly important in our experience of antelope
long bone fractures where open comminuted frac-
tures are over-represented and many fractures have
areas of osteoporotic bone present.
Where insufficient screw to bone fixation is available
because of poor bone quality in these cases, cyclic
loading of conventional plate–bone constructs can
lead to secondary loss of fracture alignment and sta-
bility. 16 Screws are known to be susceptible to pull-
out fatigue in the metaphyseal regions of bones, os-
teoporotic bone, patients having slow bone healing
conditions and patients with poor compliance to re-
stricted activity during the post-operative period. 17 An-
telopes with long bone fractures often present with
several of these issues and have poor compliance in
the post-operative period.
Locking screws do not rely on plate-bone compres-
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