A ‘mini’ new technology for jaw fractures - Veterinary Practice News

Oct 30, 2024

March 6, 2023

By John Lewis, VMD, DAVDC, FF-OMFS

In last month’s column, I discussed a technology that is just starting to take off in veterinary medicine, but may have a bright future: bioresorbable miniplates, pins and anchors for repair of maxillofacial fractures. This month, I will continue this discussion with a focus on differences between bioresorbable miniplates and titanium miniplates and will discuss a bioresorbable suture-holding anchor system that appears to have application for use in certain mandibular fractures.

First, terminology: Those of us with a medical background will likely get their feathers ruffled by use of the term “resorbable” when discussing an external product that dissolves when placed within the body. We have been taught that resorption occurs with physiologic components (deciduous teeth, bone), whereas the term “absorbable” is often used to describe degradable non-self-items, such as suture. Whether you agree with use of the term “resorbable” when discussing these dissolvable miniplates, the term “resorbable” or “bioresorbable” is already entrenched in the literature.

The company that manufactures veterinary resorbable plates states the pin/plate system is indicated for use in non-loadbearing applications.2 Titanium plates will likely prove to be stronger than resorbable plates in our veterinary patients’ mandibles, but it will be interesting to see results of biomechanical testing, since creation of a single unit by welding the pins to the plate may increase strength.

I have had the opportunity to use a new resorbable anchor system for repair of a caudal mandibular fracture repair in a puggle (Figure 1). In this case, a titanium miniplate was utilized on the caudoventral mandible, and an anchor was placed in a hole drilled in the coronoid crest dorsal to the ramus fracture (red circle in Figure 1). Resulting in a relatively small footprint in the bone, the drill bit for anchors is 1.8 mm wide and 7.2 mm long. The anchor has the ability to secure various absorbable or non-absorbable sutures ranging in diameter as narrow as USP 4-0 to USP 2. Since the anchor melts into the cancellous bone, there is no need for intact cortical bone for adequate seating of the anchor.

I suspect these anchors, plates, and pins will provide unique attributes for fixation of fractures that previously may have otherwise had less adequate options.

John Lewis, VMD, DAVDC, FF-OMFS, practices and teaches at Veterinary Dentistry Specialists and Silo Academy Education Center, both located in Chadds Ford, Pa.