Department of Veterinary Surgery and Radiology, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Mannuthy, Thrissur-680 651 (Kerala)
Karnataka Veterinary, Animal and Fisheries Sciences University, Bidar-585 401 (Karnataka)
Ten clinical cases of fracture of radius and ulna or tibia and fibula were treated with acrylic external skeletal fixator. Acrylic external skeletal fixator was found to be an economically and technically feasible, clinically successful and reliable alternative of stainless steel external fixator for immobilization of fractures of radius and ulna or tibia and fibula in animals weighting less than 15 kg. In heavier animals, use of acrylic bar on one side of the Type II fixator could reduce the cost of the fixator and it provided good stability in tibial fractures. The method of preparing acrylic connecting bar was simple and inexpensive. One packet of acrylic monomer (400 g granule and 400 g liquid monomers), which costed only Rs. 600/-and was sufficient for 10 to 15 cases. In the case of stainless steel connecting bars, each connecting clamp costed 200 to 300 Rs. and a connecting bar costed 120 to 200 Rs. Hence, for a stainless steel external fixation of Type I configuration with four fixation pins, the external frame alone would cost atleast at Rs. 1500 to Rs. 2000. Even if the clamps and connecting bar could be reused, the net cost of application of an acrylic fixator was far less than that for a stainless steel external fixator.
