ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Vet. Sci.
Sec. Veterinary Dentistry and Oromaxillofacial Surgery
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fvets.2025.1633636
Clinical and diagnostic imaging outcomes of mandibular fracture management in 109 cats
Provisionally accepted
- School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, Davis, United States
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A retrospective study was performed on a population of 109 cats that were presented for evaluation and treatment of mandibular trauma. Medical records and diagnostic imaging were reviewed to determine mandibular fracture location, morphology, and treatment. Follow-up data were obtained from repeat clinical examination and diagnostic imaging. The most commonly injured anatomical locations were the mandibular symphysis (55.0%), the condylar process of the mandible (49.5%) and mid ramus (48.6%). More severe pre-operative fracture displacement was associated with a poor healing outcome in the mid ramus and coronoid process regions. The group of cats treated with open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF) had a significantly higher percentage of cats showing adequate healing (P = 0.0247) compared to the group of cats treated with maxillomandibular fixation (MMF). Cats treated with ORIF also had lower prevalence of persistent malocclusion (9.1%) when compared to cats treated with MMF (53.9%) (P = 0.0138, respectively). Placement of an esophageal feeding tube did not have a statistically significant impact on weight change in patients post-operatively (P = 0.0973). Patient survival was high at 94.5% indicating that cats that are treated for mandibular injuries have a good to excellent prognosis.
Keywords: computed tomography, cone beam CT, Fracture, bone healing, Temporomandibular Joint, Skull, Facial trauma, feline
Received: 22 May 2025; Accepted: 10 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Evenhuis, Vincek, Goldschmidt, Soltero-Rivera, Nguyen and Arzi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Janny Evenhuis, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, Davis, United States
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