RESUMEN

The increase in lawsuits against veterinarians based on recklessness, negligence and malpractice is a current trend since pets are increasingly viewed as part of the family, and legal action is sought if the owner is frustrated with the services rendered by the veterinarian. However, since scarce data exists on this issue, this study aims to quantify and qualify lawsuits filed against veterinarians in the state of São Paulo, Brazil to identify and correlate potential risk factors that may lead to conviction or acquittal of defendants. For this purpose, the methodology employed a search for lawsuits on the website of the São Paulo State Court of Justice, sorted by year; proceedings (summary or special civil court); plaintiff's claim (non-economic damages, economic damages, malpractice, negligence or recklessness); court decision (case granted or denied); reason for judgment (sufficient or insufficient evidence); reverse burden of proof (present or absent); type of evidence (deposition, documentary and expert testimony); value of damages claimed and awarded; location (greater São Paulo or inner state), and whether the lawsuit was filed against a veterinary clinic or hospital. These categories shed light, through bivariate and Poisson regression analyses, on the potential risk factors relative to court decisions. Results demonstrate that reverse burden of proof and insufficient evidence as the basis for judgment were, respectively, risk factors for conviction and acquittal of veterinary practitioners, and the number of lawsuits increased by 533 % over eight years.

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Quando um exercício é realizado ocorrem diversas contrações muscula-res, transformando a energia química proveniente da dieta em energia cinética. Porém, nenhum organismo consegue uma eficiência de 100% nesse processo, sendo assim, o restante da energia é convertida em energia térmica, gerando calor, que será transportado para tecidos mais superficiais e dissipado através da pele, essa liberação de energia pode ser captada com o emprego da termografia, que registra a emissão de radiação infravermelha, indicando a temperatura corporal. Este estudo observou o comportamento térmico das regiões articulares de mem-bros posteriores de cães saudáveis submetidos a diversas atividades e avaliou quanto cada articulação é exigida para a realização desses exercícios. Doze animais saudáveis foram submetidos a vários tipos de atividades: subir escadas, descer rampas, sentar e levantar, e caminhar. Foram medidas as temperaturas corporais de região das articulações coxofemoral, do joelho e tibiotársica, de ambos os lados dos animais, antes e após os exercíos. Posteriormente à mensuração e análise es-tatística dos resultados foi observada apenas uma pequena alteração térmica entre as articulações antes e após o exercício, sugerindo que o exercício leve necessita de menor exigência das articulações estudadas do que o exercício intenso, como reportado por outros estudos.

Many muscular contractions occur when an exercise is performed, transforming the chemical energy from food ingested into kinetic energy. No organism can achieve 100% efficiency in this process; the remaining is thus converted into thermic energy, generating heat that will be transported to superficial tissues and dissipated through the skin. Such energy release can be captured and measured by thermography, which registers infra-red emissions, indicating the body temperature. This study observed how the joints of the hind legs of healthy dogs thermally behave when submitted to different activities to evaluate how much each joint is required for the execution of the exercises. Twelve healthy dogs were submitted various activities: going up stairs, going down ramps, sitting and standing, and walking. The temperature of the hip, knee and tibiotarsal joints were measured on both sides of the animals before and after the exercises. The statistical analysis of results showed that a slight thermic variation occurred between the joints before and after the exercises, suggesting that soft exercises do not require as much from the studied joints as intense exercises, as reported in other studies

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RESUMEN

Quando um exercício é realizado ocorrem diversas contrações muscula-res, transformando a energia química proveniente da dieta em energia cinética. Porém, nenhum organismo consegue uma eficiência de 100% nesse processo, sendo assim, o restante da energia é convertida em energia térmica, gerando calor, que será transportado para tecidos mais superficiais e dissipado através da pele, essa liberação de energia pode ser captada com o emprego da termografia, que registra a emissão de radiação infravermelha, indicando a temperatura corporal. Este estudo observou o comportamento térmico das regiões articulares de mem-bros posteriores de cães saudáveis submetidos a diversas atividades e avaliou quanto cada articulação é exigida para a realização desses exercícios. Doze animais saudáveis foram submetidos a vários tipos de atividades: subir escadas, descer rampas, sentar e levantar, e caminhar. Foram medidas as temperaturas corporais de região das articulações coxofemoral, do joelho e tibiotársica, de ambos os lados dos animais, antes e após os exercíos. Posteriormente à mensuração e análise es-tatística dos resultados foi observada apenas uma pequena alteração térmica entre as articulações antes e após o exercício, sugerindo que o exercício leve necessita de menor exigência das articulações estudadas do que o exercício intenso, como reportado por outros estudos.(AU)

Many muscular contractions occur when an exercise is performed, transforming the chemical energy from food ingested into kinetic energy. No organism can achieve 100% efficiency in this process; the remaining is thus converted into thermic energy, generating heat that will be transported to superficial tissues and dissipated through the skin. Such energy release can be captured and measured by thermography, which registers infra-red emissions, indicating the body temperature. This study observed how the joints of the hind legs of healthy dogs thermally behave when submitted to different activities to evaluate how much each joint is required for the execution of the exercises. Twelve healthy dogs were submitted various activities: going up stairs, going down ramps, sitting and standing, and walking. The temperature of the hip, knee and tibiotarsal joints were measured on both sides of the animals before and after the exercises. The statistical analysis of results showed that a slight thermic variation occurred between the joints before and after the exercises, suggesting that soft exercises do not require as much from the studied joints as intense exercises, as reported in other studies(AU)

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Background: Circular external skeletal fixator Ilizarov is a fixation method widely used to stabilize fractures. The method is performed using several components but the ring stands out as the fundamental component of this device, and compression loads in the same plane of the ring are mainly due to the wires connected from one side to another of the implant. The axial load is reached on the rings with a proper tension distractor device connected to the wires and fixed with bolts, washers and nuts during surgical procedure. Additional loads to axial tension are employed during patient`s physical activities after surgery. The study aimed to compare the resistance to axial compression load and analyze the alloy composition of the Ilizarov rings with different diameter sizes and alloys. Materials, Methods & Results: We tested two diameters of rings acquired from three manufacturers for mechanical axial compression. Manufacture sample (N = 30 rings of each trademark) was divided into two groups (60 and 80 diameter mm). The tests to evaluate strength and deformation parameters were performed in a universal testing machine Kratos ® 3.000 MP KE model, equipped with a load cell of 3000 N with test speed of 10 mm per minute. We also evaluated the elemental alloy composition by the method of the TTPIXE (Thick Target Proton Induced X-Ray Emission) in external PIXE...(AU)

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RESUMEN

Background: Circular external skeletal fixator Ilizarov is a fixation method widely used to stabilize fractures. The method is performed using several components but the ring stands out as the fundamental component of this device, and compression loads in the same plane of the ring are mainly due to the wires connected from one side to another of the implant. The axial load is reached on the rings with a proper tension distractor device connected to the wires and fixed with bolts, washers and nuts during surgical procedure. Additional loads to axial tension are employed during patient`s physical activities after surgery. The study aimed to compare the resistance to axial compression load and analyze the alloy composition of the Ilizarov rings with different diameter sizes and alloys. Materials, Methods & Results: We tested two diameters of rings acquired from three manufacturers for mechanical axial compression. Manufacture sample (N = 30 rings of each trademark) was divided into two groups (60 and 80 diameter mm). The tests to evaluate strength and deformation parameters were performed in a universal testing machine Kratos ® 3.000 MP KE model, equipped with a load cell of 3000 N with test speed of 10 mm per minute. We also evaluated the elemental alloy composition by the method of the TTPIXE (Thick Target Proton Induced X-Ray Emission) in external PIXE...

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Ruptura de ligamento cruzado cranial (RLCCr) é a afecção ortopédica mais frequente no joelho de cães e a sutura fabelo-tibial é frequentemente utilizada na sua correção. Essa técnica pode estar associada com complicações incisionais, lesão tardia de menisco, edema associado ao material de sutura e infecção. O objetivo desta nota foi relatar a ocorrência de fratura proximal de tíbia em um cão, causada por complicação em sutura fabelo-tibial para correção de RLCCr. Um canino atendido em outro serviço foi submetido à osteossíntese com placa 2,0mm para correção de complicação em técnica extra-capsular, na qual houve fratura da tíbia na região do orifício criado para confecção da sutura fabelo-tibial. Houve falha dos implantes e a placa foi removida. A fratura foi estabilizada com fixador esquelético externo circular, sendo constatada, após 120 dias, consolidação.

Cranial cruciate ligament rupture (CCLR) is one of the most common orthopedic diseases in dogs and extracapsular suture with nylon is often used for its correction. This technique may be associated with incisional complications, post-surgical meniscus injury, swelling associated with suture material and infection. The objective of this study is to report a tibial fracture in a dog, caused by complications after an extracapsular suture for the repair of CCLR. An adult dog, which suffered a tibial fracture after an extracapsular fixation for a CCLR, underwent surgery for the fixation of the fracture with a 2.0mm plate, by a referring veterinarian, but the implant failed. The plate was removed and the fracture was stabilized with a circular fixator. Bone consolidation was observed after 120 days.

RESUMEN

Background: Nowadays, many different techniques have been used to treat cranial cruciate ligament rupture (CrCL) in dogs, being the most common ones the tibial tuberosity advancement (TTA) and the tibial plateau leveling osteotomy (TPLO). These procedures promote dynamic stabilization. In other words, they try to stabilize the knee while supporting the limb, decreasing the cranial tibial impulse, which anticipates the function's return. Among the complications observed in these kind of osteotomy, stand out the osteomyelitis, with 7,3% requency in TPLO and 6,6% in TTA. In these cases, it is necessary to remove all the implants. Most bone infections are from bacterial source, mostly caused by Staphylococcus genus. The aim of this study was to describe 14 cases of osteomyelitis in dogs after CrCL rupture corrective osteotomy. Materials, Methods & Results: This retrospective study evaluated 89 dogs (104 knees) that had undergone any of the CCLR corrective osteotomy during the period of January 2006 to November 2012. These patients were divided in TTA (n = 56), TPLO (n = 36) or CWO (closing wedge osteotomy) (n = 12). Among the 104 knees, 14 developed osteomyelitis as postoperative complication, requiring the removal of the implants. The clinical signs observed in these patients were claudication (different degrees), pain in the area of the implants, swelling and local temperature increase. When the osteotomy line was consolidated and the radiological signs of osteomyelitis were identifi ed, the implants were removed and sent to bacterial culture and antimicrobial sensibility test before an antimicrobial therapy was instituted. However, if bone consolidation was not complete, an empirical therapy based on amoxicillin associated with clavulanic acid was performed, with treatment length according to the case. Fourteen animals where evaluated (6 males and 8 females). The average age and weight where 3,7yr and 46,59 kg. The technique chosen was TTA in 7 patients, TPLO in 6 dogs and CWO in just one animal. The mean period for implants removal was 240,5 days. The osteomyelitis rate was 13,46% against all the osteotomies (12,5% of the TTA, 16,6% of TPLO and 8,3% of CWO). Nineteen bacterial cultures were performed (3 bones biopsy and 16 implants - 14 plates and 2 cages), isolating coagulase-positive Staphylococci (n = 8), coagulase-negative Staphylococci (n = 4), Staphylococcus intermedius (n = 2 ), Streptococcus sp. (n = 1), Pseudomonas spp. (n = 2), Hafnia alvei (n = 1) and 3 samples with no bacterial growth. Discussion: There were performed 19 bacterial cultures; among these, the most frequent microorganisms isolated were the Staphylococcus genus. These bacteria occur as commensals in dogs' skin and mucosa, but sometimes can act as opportunist pathogens, causing pyogenic infection, once small traumas and immunodepression can predispose to infection development. The coagulase enzyme production is an important indicator of pathogenicity. The coagulase-positive Staphylococcus, resistant to innumerous antimicrobials drugs, are responsible for most infections. The high rates of osteomyelitis found in CrCL rupture osteotomies emphasize the importance of rational use of antimicrobials drugs, as well as the importance of performing bacterial culture and antimicrobial sensitivity from implants or bone fragments, in order to guarantee appropriate antimicrobial therapy in case of bone infections.

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