BIOMECHANICAL ASSESSMENT OF FRACTURE HEALING IN A PIGEON ULNA

A study was conducted on pigeon to evaluate the biomechanical assessment of fracture healing in ulna model. Four adult birds were included in this study, each pigeon was anesthetized with Isoflurane anesthesia. A simple fracture was created at the mid-point of ulna (left) and fixed with four external skeleton fixations (ESF) pins. After 12 weeks fracture healing, all birds were sacrificed for bones biomechanical testing. On post-mortem examination, all healed ulna bones showed complete clinical union on palpation. Each ulna bones were placed on fixture machine with two supports. Three-point bending (flexural force) was applied vertically at mid-point of ulna bone. The flexure stress at break (MPa) of right intact (normal) and left-healed ulna fracture data were compared. There was no any significant difference in three-point bending force (p>0.064) between left and right ulna breaking. The results of this experiment indicate that ESF pins provided good bending strength at 12 weeks of ulna fracture healing. The ESF technique seems to be suitable for fracture stabilization in pigeons.