SMALL ANIMAL FRACTURE REPAIR COURSE
Target Audience: General Practitioners
Focus: Internal Fixation with Plates
Duration: 2 Days
Supported by: Arthrex Vet Systems
🎯 Aims & Goals
This two-day course is designed to provide general practitioners with the foundational skills and confidence needed to manage common fractures in small animals using internal fixation methods. Participants will:
- Understand the principles of fracture biomechanics and healing
- Learn proper implant selection and fixation strategies using DCP, LC-DCP, and locking plates
- Gain hands-on experience in screw placement, plate contouring, and fracture repair
- Improve decision-making for fracture stabilization based on fracture type and location
- Explore techniques to prevent and manage complications such as implant failure or infection
- Strengthen clinical confidence through case discussions and instructor-guided labs
Whether you’re looking to build surgical competency or refine your plating techniques, this course emphasizes practical application in everyday practice—with equipment, cases, and complications tailored to general practice realities.
Georg Haimel DVM DipECVS
EBVS European Specialist in Small Animal Surgery
Dr. Georg Haimel graduated from the Veterinary University of Vienna, where he also completed a rotating internship in small animal medicine and a residency training for small animal surgery. Dr. Haimel is an ECVS boarded diplomate for Small Animal Surgery and worked as a specialist in international renowned referral centers across Europe (Animal Health Trust, Dick White Referrals). Since 2018 Dr Haimel is managing director and head of the surgical department at the “Tierarztpraxis am Stadtpark”, a referral center in Vienna. Dr. Haimel has lectured and been invited as a speaker at numerous conferences and CPD courses at national and international level. His main interest is orthopaedic surgery including management of complex limb deformities and joint replacement.
Viktoria Brandstetter DVM Resident ECVS
Dr. Viktoria Brandstetter graduated from the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna in 2020. She then completed a rotating internship in small animal medicine at the Veterinary Hospital Hofheim, followed by a surgical internship at Tierarztpraxis am Stadtpark. She is currently enrolled in a residency program in Small Animal Surgery at Tierarztpraxis am Stadtpark, working towards board certification as a diplomate in this specialty.
Her main clinical interest is orthopaedic surgery, and her current research focuses on total hip replacement and patellar luxation. She has presented her work at both national and international conferences.
Particular interest: 3D printing, correction of angular limb deformities, total joint replacements.
| Time | Topic |
| 08:30 – 09:00 | Registration & Welcome Coffee |
| 09:00 – 09:30 | Fracture Biomechanics & Bone Healing |
| 09:30 – 10:15 | Imaging & Planning: Choosing the Right Plate for the Right Fracture |
| 10:15 – 10:30 | Coffee Break |
| 10:30 – 11:15 | Techniques Overview: Pinning, Cerclage and Tension Band Wiring |
| 11:15 – 12:00 | Plate Fixation Systems: DCP, LC-DCP, and Locking Plates |
| 12:00 – 13:00 | Management of diaphyseal long bone fractures |
| 13:00 – 14:00 | Lunch |
| 14:00 – 15:30 | Hands-On Lab: Pinning and Tension Band Wiring | 15:30 – 17:30 | Hands-On Lab: Simple Diaphyseal Fracture Repair with Compression Plating |
| Time | Topic |
| 08:30 – 09:00 | Morning Recap & Troubleshooting Common Plating Mistakes |
| 09:00 – 10:15 | Techniques for Comminuted & Metaphyseal Fractures |
| 10:15 – 10:30 | Coffee Break |
| 10:30 – 11:15 | Joint fractures |
| 11:15 – 12:00 | Managing Complications: Nonunion, Implant Failure & Infection |
| 12:00 – 13:00 | Lunch |
| 13:00 – 15:00 | Hands-On Lab: Comminuted Bone Fractures |
| 15:00 – 16:30 | Hands-On Lab: Joint fractures | 16:30 – 17:00 | Wrap-Up |