Results of surgical treatment of the mandible body fractures with own designedexternal fixator in two horses

Abstract

Mandibular fractures are the most common among all skull fractures. Most of them are the result of blunt trauma resulting from hitting an obstacle, kicking by another horse, or falling after a jump. The majority of fractures are open and infected. Some of them are complicated, involving the molar or premolar teeth. Treatment of such fractures is challenging because results depend on stable bony union and functional integrity of the occlusal surface. Osteosyntheses were performed under general anesthesia. Complications included infection around one implant close to the fracture line and fistulation in case 2 created by a fractured tooth which had to be extracted. In spite of the mentioned problems, good results were achieved in both cases. Stabilization of unilateral mandibular fractures with our own design fixator which is minimally invasive and provides sufficient fixation to obtain good results. The use of the fixator has proved to be beneficial and has a number of advantages in the treatment of this kind of fracture.