PAUL: Proximal Abducting Ulnar Osteotomy

Medial compartment disease of the canine elbow is a common, highly debilitating orthopedic condition in need of a better treatment. In an effort to address this need, Dr. Ingo Pfeil, Dresden, Germany, proposed a proximal ulna osteotomy, aimed at unloading the medial compartment, thus reducing pain and improving limb use and function.

The ALPS Proximal Abducting Ulnar Osteotomy (PAUL)* plate, invented and developed by Dr. Ingo Pfeil and KYON Veterinary Surgical Products, imposes a corrective limb alignment, aimed at unloading the medial compartment. Dr. Pfeil began clinical use of the PAUL technique in 2007. In 2010 KYON initiated the next phase of development, expanding to ~30 surgeons worldwide. By early 2012, ~300 cases had been treated. The procedure, as currently practiced with the KYON Advanced Locking Plate System** (ALPS) implants, presents relatively low morbidity and is meeting the expectations of the early adopters in terms of clinical improvement.

The Advanced Locking Plate System (ALPS) reduces iatrogenic trauma and offers greater versatility and increased overall stability, resulting in accelerated fracture healing. The ALPS plating system builds on research and development work done on the PC-Fix (Point Contact Fixator) in the 1980s and 1990s at the AO Research Institute, Davos, Switzerland. Numerous publications have documented the PC-Fix design and clinical results.