Appendicular skeleton fractures in dogs

Fractures of the appendicular skeleton in dogs occur when there is an interruption in bone continuity, resulting in a partial or complete rupture of the bone tissue. The objective of this study was to conduct a retrospective study of appendicular skeleton fractures in dogs, using the AO Vet system for classifying fractures as a tool. In the present study, 956 radiographs and 478 medical records of dogs submitted to radiographic examinations were analyzed. Of these, 153 (31.94%) occurred in the femur; 152 (31.80%) in the tibia; 126 (26.36%) in the radius and 47 in the humerus (9.9%). In the most affected bone (femur), the diaphysis was the most affected region (77.12%; 118/153) with simple fractures (79.74%; 122/153). In the tibia (second place in the case series), the majority of fractures were diaphyseal (94.74%; 144/152) of the simple type (81.58%; 124/152). In the radius (third place) the most incident fractures also occurred in the diaphysis (95.24%; 120/126), with the majority being of the simple type (88.10%; 111/126). The humerus (smallest case series) presented the majority of fractures in the diaphysis region (65.96%; 31/47) and of the simple type (85.11%; 38/47). With this study we point out that the AO Vet classification is extremely important to classify fractures of the appendicular skeleton.