Abstract
An 11-month-old Japanese Black calf (300 kg) with a fracture of the left tibial bone was surgically treated. The radiograph at the first visit showed a complete transverse bone fracture, with shortening and longitudinal displacement of fragments. A combination of three fixa tion methods, i.e., percutaneous pinning, external fixation, and plastic cast fixation was planned before surgery. But, the percutaneous pinning did not succeed during surgery because of the hard bone cortex. Therefore, an external fixator and plastic casting tape were used to complete the surgery. The calf recovered well after the surgery, and could walk almost normally 130 days later. This is a rare case where the combined use of external fixation and plastic cast fixation was suf ficiently effective for treating tibial fracture in a heavy bovine.
