Caudal vertebra transfer: treatment of radio-ulnar nonunion and severe bone shortening in a dog

A two-year-old, 9 kg male cross-breed dog was referred for treatment of a left radio-ulnar non-union that had resulted in non-weight-bearing lameness for 4 months. The radius was approximately 25% shorter than its contralateral counterpart. Because of economic constraints, the hypertrophic non-union lesion was treated using two standard plates (2·7 mm limited contact dynamic compression plate (LC-DCP) ) and an autologous caudal bone graft obtained by amputation of the tail at the level of the sixth caudal vertebra, supplemented with a cancellous graft taken from the humerus. After excising as much soft tissue as possible and drilling a cranial-caudal hole through the centre of the vertebral bodies, the seventh and eight caudal vertebrae were used to graft between the non-union ends of the radius and ulna respectively and retained in position using 10-hole 2·7 mm LC-DCPs . Screws were progressively removed from the plates, commencing on day 55, so as to increasingly transfer ...