A scoping review of animal models of growth plate injury organized by Salter-Harris classification.

The severity of growth arrest and angular deformities experienced by adolescent patients who have fractured their bone growth plates depends on the Salter-Harris (SH) classification of the injury. The SH classification depends on which anatomical elements of the zonal structure of the growth plate and the adjacent bone structures are injured. Animal models can provide indispensable insights into these injuries, elucidating cellular and molecular repair mechanisms inaccessible in clinical studies. This scoping review maps twelve different animal models of growth plate injury to SH-like classifications based on which anatomical elements of the growth plate and adjacent bone structures were disrupted when creating the injury. Seventy-nine studies were included across mice, rats, rabbits, pigs, and sheep. The more severe SH IV-like injuries predominated (69/79 studies). Gaps include under-representation of the clinically most common SH type II, and types III and V. Pros and cons of the various models are discussed, including the technical challenges of surgically creating well-defined injuries in the soft growth plate zonal structure in small animals, most suited for mechanistic studies. This scoping review provides a resource for investigators interested in selecting an animal model for testing new therapeutic strategies aiming to improve healing outcomes for children with growth plate injuries.