Summary
Fracture stabilisation techniques continue to evolve and to provide approaches which
minimise the iatrogenic trauma associated with surgery. Minimally invasive plate osteo-synthesis
(MIPO) is a recently described method of biological internal fixation performed by
introducing a bone plate via small insertional incisions that are made remote to the
fracture site. The plate is slid adjacent to the bone in an epiperiosteal tunnel connecting
the two insertional incisions. Screws are placed in the plate through the insertional
incisions or via additional stab incisions made over the holes in the plate. In this
paper we describe the surgical approaches used to perform MIPO in humeral, radial,
fe-moral and tibial fractures in dogs. We found that these approaches allowed safe
insertion of the plate without grossly damaging neuro-vascular structures. Further
studies are needed to evaluate the clinical outcome of MIPO in dogs.
Keywords
Dog - plate - approach - fracture - MIPO