Post-traumatic osteomyelitis in dogs and cats and the comparison with the incidence of bacterial colonisation in removed plate implants

Objective: To evaluate the incidence of post-traumatic osteomyelitis in 65 animals (dog n=51; cat n=14) and compare this with the incidence of bacterial colonisation of the removed plate implants in the same study group. Study Design: retrospective study Sample Collection: Data were further collected from the medical records of the animals presented between February 2010 and March 2013 for the removal of plate implants and included sex, age, weight, antibiotic therapy, clinical, and radiological presence of osteomyelitis. Methods: Presence of clinical signs and radiographic changes typical for osteomyelitis, pus on aspiration, and positive bacterial culture, were evaluated. The animals were considered as patients with osteomyelitis if two or more of these criteria were present. Incidence of the osteomyelitis in the study group was then statistically compared with the findings published by Pagel (2015)1 on the incidence of bacterial colonisation of the removed plate implants in the same animal group. Results: Five dogs (5/51; 9,8%) and no cats (0/14; 0%) showed osteomyelitis. Mean age and mean weight were 6,6 ± 4,7 years and 35,2 ± 12,6 kg, respectively. The most common clinical signs were localised swelling (5/5), local pain (5/5) and lameness (5/5); in radiological signs soft tissue swelling (5/5) and osteolysis (5/5). Bacterial culture yielded St pseudintermedius in all cases. Compared to the previous study by Pagel (2015), the incidence of bacterial colonisation (n=33; 50,8%) was significantly higher (P<0,01) compared to the incidence of osteomyelitis (n=5; 7,8%). Conclusions: This study shows that the incidence of bacterial colonisation was signifi- cantly higher than the incidence of osteomyelitis. Although the majority of animals were clinically healthy, bacteria were nevertheless present on the implants. Based on these findings a timely explantation of plate implants is recommended. © 2017, Veterinary Solutions LLC. All rights reserved.