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Small animal surgery residents take top honors in category

Dr. Caleb Hudson, Dr. Antonio Pozzi and Dr. Laura Cuddy are shown at the recent Veterinary Orthopedic Society meeting.

Two UF small animal surgery residents were awarded for their research efforts during the Veterinary Orthopedic Society’s annual meeting, held in Snowmass, Colo. March 5-12.

Dr. Laura Cuddy, a first-year resident, was honored for best paper in the resident category. Dr. Caleb Hudson, a second-year resident, received top honors for best poster in the resident category.

“This is the fourth year in a row that UF  received awards at this conference,” said Dr. Antonio Pozzi, an assistant professor of small animal surgery and orthopedic surgery specialist.

Cuddy’s paper, titled “Contact Mechanics of Normal Dog Elbows: An ex-vivo study” dealt with elbow dysplasis, the most common cause of forelimb lameness in the dog. The normal biomechanics of dog elbows have not previously been elucidated, Cuddy said.

“This study evaluates normal elbow contact mechanics and provides a model for future investigation of pathologic states and surgical procedures,” she added.

Hudson’s poster was titled “A biomechanical evaluation of the effect of three drop wire configurations on the stiffness of single ring fixator constructs.”

The poster represented a mechanical loading test of several different configurations of circular external skeletal fixators, which are metal frames that connect to bones with wires and are used to stabilize fractures.  The study evaluated the effects on stiffness that could be achieved by adding additional wires in different ways to the circular constructs.