little or no bone. This weak connection predisposes the condyle to fracture with minimal trauma.
little or no bone. This weak connection predisposes the condyle to fracture with minimal trauma.
|l2=
|l2=
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|q3=What is the prognosis for repair and
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possible complications?
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|a3=
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The fracture should be anatomically reduced and stabilized with a transcondylar screw placed in lag fashion. In this dog, additional screws were placed in the epicondylar region to provide adjunctive stability.
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This fracture may not heal because the lateral and medial portions of the condyle were never united. Therefore, the lag screw
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must provide rigid stabilization for a prolonged period of time.
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In one case series, 23% of dogs had complications following surgical repair of condylar fractures.
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The screw may loosen, resulting in pain, or break, resulting in failure of stabilization. When possible, a 4.5 mm cortical bone screw should be selected as this screw has 2.5 times the resistance to bending when compared with a 3.5 mm cortical screw.
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The contralateral condyle should also be evaluated. If incomplete ossification is present, the potential for fracture of the contralateral condyle exists.