Clinical and radiographic evaluation of mini titanium locking plate in the management of ilium fractures in cats

Pelvic trauma is common in feline orthopaedics and fractures of the os ilium are the most common pelvic region. Plate osteosynthesis is the most commonly used technique for surgical stabilisation of os ilium fractures. The aim of this dissertation study is to evaluate the clinical and radiographic outcome of the use of a mini titanium locking plate in cats with post-traumatic os iliac fractures. 30 cats with os ilium fractures as a result of traffic accidents or high rise syndrome formed the material of this thesis. A mini titanium locking plate was applied to the os ilium fractures according to Piermattei's Atlas of Canine and Feline Surgical Approaches. Clinical and radiographic evaluations were performed on days 1, 10, 30, 60 and 180 after surgery. Clinical scores included lameness score and pain score. The pelvic canal stenosis score was measured before and after surgery. The scores and measurements were statistically analysed. The distribution of fractures was 15 right, 14 left and 1 bilateral iliac fractures. While lameness scores of 1 and 2 were observed in 66.6% of the patients on day 10 after surgery, lameness scores of 1 were observed in most patients on days 30, 60 and 180 (P<0.01). In pain scoring, 60% of the patients received a score of 1 on day 1, 63.3% received a score of 0 on day 10, and 96.7% received a score of 0 on day 30 (P<0.01). It was found that 60% of the cases received a score of 2 on the preoperative pelvic canal narrowing score and 96.7% of the cases received a score of 1 after surgery (P<0.01).A positive correlation was found between lameness and pain scores measured at different times. In conclusion, mini-titanium locking plates can be easily used in cat iliac fractures and functional improvement was achieved in patients.