🔍 Key Findings

• Lower CTI values were significantly associated with higher risk of both intraoperative and postoperative femoral fractures or fissures (p <.0001).
• The mean CTI for all dogs was 0.285, whereas dogs with fissures/fractures had a mean CTI of 0.246.
• For each 0.001 increase in CTI, odds of fissure/fracture decreased by 2–3% depending on perioperative timing.
• High interobserver reliability (ICC = 0.984) and consistency between pre- and postoperative CTI measurements (ICC = 0.96).
• CTI was the only significant risk factor identified; age, breed, bodyweight, BCS, CFI, or luxoid hips were not significant.
• Prophylactic lateral plating in dogs with low CTI (mean 0.230) resulted in no postoperative fractures.
• Postoperative fractures occurred in 8% of cases, and 93% of dogs returned to full function within one year.
• CTI may be a useful radiographic screening tool, especially when advanced imaging (e.g., DEXA) is unavailable.

🔍 Key Findings

• No significant difference in non-infected incisional dehiscence rates among groups using PDS vs. Monocryl for subcutaneous and skin closure.
• Overall dehiscence rate: 9.48% (22/232 dogs).
• Postoperative antibiotic use and signs of inflammation were significantly associated with dehiscence (p = .023 and p < .001, respectively).
• Dogs not receiving postoperative antibiotics had a higher dehiscence rate (14.74%) than those that did (5.84%).
• Most dehiscence cases were superficial (85.7%), and the average length of dehiscence was 1.71 cm.
• No statistically significant impact of weight, BCS, incision length, procedure type, surgeon experience, closure direction, or barrier use on dehiscence rate.

🔍 Key Findings

Objective: Validate a new 3D CT-based method for measuring tibial torsion in dogs with MPL, comparing it to a traditional method.

Sample: 40 tibiae from client-owned dogs with MPL (primarily small-breed).

Repeatability (intraobserver):

• New method: ICC = 0.99 → excellent agreement

Reproducibility (interobserver):

• New method: ICC = 0.83 → high agreement
• Traditional method: ICC = 0.52 → moderate agreement

Torsion angle measurements:

• New method avg: 16.00° ± 8.77
• Traditional method avg: 8.76° ± 4.92

Conclusion: The new method is more repeatable, reproducible, and provides higher torsion values than the traditional Aper method, especially reliable for small-breed dogs.

🔍 Key Findings

• Skin staple anastomosis (SSA) had comparable leak pressures to hand-sewn anastomosis (HSA) but required half the time to complete.
• Skin staple enterotomy (SSE) had significantly lower leak pressures than hand-sewn enterotomy (HSE) and failed in 12/20 constructs during pressure testing.
• HSE constructs took 8× longer to complete than SSE, but had much higher intraluminal pressure tolerance.
• All SSE constructs leaked from the center, with 35% leaking immediately and 60% showing catastrophic failure.
• SSA leakage occurred at the center in 40% of constructs, likely due to a learning curve in early samples.
• All constructs had higher pressures than normal physiologic intestinal pressure (4.0 mmHg ±2.0), except some SSEs with immediate leaks.
• Authors recommend SSA as a viable alternative with appropriate training but do not recommend SSE using the tested technique in live cats.
• Staple size and placement technique are key factors; smaller or more precisely placed staples may reduce leak risk.

🔍 Key Findings

• AMA-based CCWO realigned the anatomical and mechanical axes in 82% of dogs >50 kg, with postoperative AMA angle of 0° in most cases.
• Surgical site infection (SSI) rate was only 0.5%, markedly lower than TPLO-reported rates in similar populations (up to 37.5%).
• All osteotomies achieved Grade 4 healing by 8 weeks, with no implant failures.
• AMA-based planning based on preoperative AMA and TPA allowed for better correction of proximal tibial angulation compared to TPLO in large dogs.
• Use of a double locking plate (DLP) fixation and Robert Jones bandage (RJB) contributed to improved mechanical stability and infection prevention.
• Dogs with AMA angle >3.4° (hyper-CCAPT) were 38% of the cohort, supporting AMA as a critical metric in planning.
• Postoperative alignment of the AA and MA was more consistently achieved when preoperative AMA was >2.4°, confirming suitability of AMA-based CCWO for severe angulation.
• Most infections in TPLOs occur within 15 days, but RJB plus antibiotics in this study appeared protective, suggesting benefit for early-phase SSI prevention.

🔍 Key Findings

• Surgically managed TTAF resulted in excellent clinical outcomes at skeletal maturity, with all dogs having normal limb function and no stifle instability.
• Surgical treatment significantly altered proximal tibial morphology, including decreased tibial plateau angle (TPA) and increased patellar position (PP) compared with the contralateral limb.
• Axial tibial tuberosity position (TTP-A) increased and transverse position (TTP-T) decreased in surgically treated stifles, indicating distal and caudal tuberosity migration.
• Non-surgically managed TTAF did not significantly alter tibial morphology or PP, but outcomes were more variable.
• Medial patellar luxation developed in 2/6 non-surgically treated dogs, whereas none occurred in surgically managed cases.
• Pins-only and pin–tension band constructs produced similar radiographic changes and outcomes.
• Despite morphologic changes, no dogs developed cruciate ligament instability at follow-up.
• Non-surgical management yielded good to excellent owner-reported outcomes, but carried a potential increased risk of patellar luxation.

🔍 Key Findings

• 13 cadaver dogs underwent laparoscopic right lateral liver lobectomy in sternal recumbency using a transdiaphragmatic intrathoracic trocar (ITT).
• All lobectomies were successful, regardless of dog size.
• Median total surgical time: 35.5 min; median lobectomy time: 18.5 min.
• ITT port enhanced visualization and access to hilus.
• No correlation between body weight and hilus access (p = .78).
• Stronger correlation between liver lobe weight and lobectomy time (r = .73, p = .004).
• Complication in 3/13 cases: Loss of insufflation due to balloon-tip port failure and pneumothorax.
• Recommendation: Use a new balloon trocar per case in clinical applications to prevent failure.

🔍 Key Findings

Population: 29 Boxer dogs and 29 age-matched Labrador Retrievers undergoing TPLO.
Scoring Systems Compared: 5-point vs. 10-point radiographic healing systems.
Healing Scores (Week 8):

• Boxers: 5-point mean = 3.3; 10-point mean = 6.9
• Labradors: 5-point mean = 3.6; 10-point mean = 7.5
• → Statistically significant difference (p = 0.0003 and p < 0.0001)

Osteotomy Gap ≥1 mm (present in 16.4%): Associated with significantly lower healing scores and increased recommendations for additional radiographic follow-up (p < 0.0001).
Observer Reliability:

• Both systems = good interobserver consistency.
• Slightly better intraobserver consistency with the 10-point scale.

Clinical Implication: Boxer dogs may need extended healing time or altered follow-up strategy after TPLO.

🔍 Key Findings

• Chlorhexidine-based asepsis protocols were comparable to povidone-iodine for reducing surgical site infection (SSI) rates in veterinary surgery.
• No significant difference in skin bacterial colonization was observed between the two antiseptics, at both immediate and delayed timepoints.
• Chlorhexidine-alcohol protocols showed a non-significant trend toward improved bacterial reduction in some studies, though inconsistent across all studies.
• Use of neutralizing agents was inconsistent, which may have led to overestimation of antiseptic efficacy in several studies.
• Formulations and concentrations varied widely (e.g., chlorhexidine 0.5–4%, povidone-iodine 0.7–1%), contributing to heterogeneity and limiting definitive conclusions.
• Only a minority of studies reported using CDC criteria for SSI diagnosis, affecting the reliability of infection outcomes.
• Risk of bias was high or unclear in multiple domains across all included studies, limiting overall confidence in conclusions.
• Meta-analysis confirmed no statistically significant superiority of either protocol for SSI prevention or skin bacterial reduction.

🔍 Key Findings

• NAS-ILN had significantly greater stiffness in both axial compression and 4-point bending compared to LCP constructs.
• Ultimate load to failure was significantly higher for NAS-ILN in compression (804 N vs 328 N) and bending (25.7 Nm vs 16.3 Nm).
• Torsional stiffness and angular deformation were similar, but NAS-ILN resisted higher torque to failure than LCP (22.5 Nm vs 19.1 Nm).
• No slack was observed with the NAS-ILN construct, unlike older nail designs.
• Failure modes differed: LCPs failed via plate bending; NAS-ILNs failed at the implant or bone near screw holes.
• Titanium alloy and curved design of NAS-ILN provides better anatomic fit and more uniform stress distribution.
• A third, perpendicular locking hole in NAS-ILN may enhance torsional stability but was not utilized in this study.
• The curved, angle-stable design of NAS-ILN is a novel advancement in veterinary orthopedics.