CASE REPORT article
Front. Vet. Sci.
Sec. Veterinary Surgery
Use of bone callus as a source of bone graft for concurrent tibial malunion repair and contralateral pantarsal arthrodesis in a Domestic Shorthair cat – a case report
Provisionally accepted
- Veterinary Emergency and Specialty (VES) Hospital Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
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A domestic shorthair cat, estimated 1 year old, was presented from a local rescue with traumatic injuries of unknown cause to both pelvic limbs. Radiographs revealed a left tibial malunion with marked callus formation and complex right tarsocrural joint injuries. A modified chipping technique was used to provide a source of autogenous bone graft from the callus for both the malunion correction and the contralateral pantarsal arthrodesis. Post-operative radiographs showed significant improvement in the left tibial alignment and adequate arthrodesis of the right tarsal joints. There was good functional outcome at 3 months post-operatively. This case report highlights the potential of bone callus to be used as a bone graft, presenting a unique technique to avoid donor site morbidity associated with traditional autogenous bone grafts. The modified chipping technique can also be employed in malunion revision surgeries to effectively correct resultant angular deformities while preserving the fracture haematoma. To the authors' knowledge these have not been reported in the veterinary literature.
Keywords: Malunion, Bone callus, Bone graft, Pantarsal arthrodesis, feline, dorsal plate, Autograft
Received: 14 Jul 2025; Accepted: 13 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 TIAN and Tuan. 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: GRACIA TIAN, graciatian@gmail.com
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