SCAPULAR FRACTURES IN DOGS - EPIDEMIOLOGY, CLASSIFICATION, AND CONCURRENT INJURIES IN 105 CASES (1988-1994)

A retrospective study of canine scapular fractures diagnosed and treat ed from 1988 through 1994 at four veterinary teaching hospitals was pe rformed. Dogs (n=105) with 109 scapular fractures were included. Most scapular fractures occurred in young (i.e., less than four years of ag e), male, medium- to large-breed (i.e., greater than 10 kg) dogs as th e result of vehicular trauma. Concurrent injuries (primarily thoracic trauma) occurred in approximately 70% of cases, In-house follow-up eva luations were considered adequate in only 17% of the cases. A classifi cation system that includes biomechanical principles for categorizatio n is described to avoid discrepancies between various traditional clas sification systems.