Evaluation of a Joint Distractor to Facilitate Arthroscopy of the Canine Stifle

Abstract

Use of a joint distractor may simplify arthroscopic assessment of the canine stifle and avoid potential morbidity associated with fat pad debridement.

Evaluation of traction stirrup distraction technique to increase the joint space of the shoulder joint in the dog: A cadaveric study

“…In veterinary medicine, the use of distractors has been previously reported to reduce diaphyseal fractures (Rovesti et al, 2006a(Rovesti et al, , 2006b. Other reports include studies describing the use of distraction maneuvers to perform arthroscopy in the shoulder (Schulz et al, 2004), hip joint (Schulz et al, 2004) and stifle (Böttcher et al, 2009;Gemmill and Farrell, 2009).…”

“…They had no clinical evidence of osteoarthritis or fractures. Within 24 hours after death, cadavers were collected and stored at −20°C until further study (Gemmill and Farrell, 2009;Hidaka et al, 2009;Whatmough et al, 2008). Before the beginning of the study, cadavers were thawed for 48 hours at room temperature, weighed, and height and length measures were made.…”

“…However, distraction does have potential complications, such as fractures, ligamentous injury or neurovascular damage (Dienst et al, 2000;Theken et al, 1992). In small animals, there are few reports concerning the development of distractors to help perform arthroscopy (Böttcher et al, 2009;Gemmill and Farrell, 2009;Schulz et al, 2004), and data on the amount of distraction that can be achieved, or concerning the evaluation of potential soft tissue injuries due to the distraction, are completely missing. Recently, such data have been reported for hip and tarsus distraction (Rodriguez-Quiros et al, 2014).…”

Evaluation of a joint distractor to facilitate arthroscopy of the hip joint in dogs

“…Within 24 hours after death, cadavers were collected and stored at −20 °C until further study as previously recommended (Whatmough et al . , Gemmill & Farrell , Hidaka et al . ).…”

Operative Arthroscopy

“…Using a stifle distractor originally designed for use in arthrotomies (Fig. 3.17) inserted through a mini arthrotomy enables arthroscopic inspection of the stifle joint and meniscal surgery without recourse to infrapatellar fat-pad debridement (Gemmill and Farrell, 2009). A purpose-made arthroscopic pin distractor provides sufficient view of the intra-articular structures to enable meniscal surgery without fat-pad debridement (Böttcher et al, 2009) and does not impede use of the arthroscopic instruments.…”