Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Elbow cartilage damage found by arthroscopy in lame dogs with normal
By Punke, John P et al.·Published in Veterinary surgery : VS·2009·Department of Small Animal Medicine and Surgery, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Arthroscopic documentation of elbow cartilage pathology in dogs with clinical lameness without changes on standard radiographic projections.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of 16 dogs, aged around 2.5 years, were brought in for elbow lameness that showed no signs on standard X-rays. Advanced imaging techniques like CT scans and nuclear scintigraphy revealed cartilage damage, specifically medial coronoid pathology, which was confirmed through arthroscopy. This means that even if X-rays look normal, there could still be serious issues causing lameness in dogs. The findings suggest that if your dog is limping but X-rays don’t show anything, further imaging tests might be necessary to find the problem.
People also search for: dog elbow lameness no X-ray signs · dog limping elbow pain treatment · advanced imaging for dog lameness
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To document cartilage damage associated with elbow lameness in dogs without radiographic signs. STUDY DESIGN: Case series. ANIMALS: Dogs (n=16). METHODS: Medical records (November 2004-January 2006) of dogs with undiagnosed forelimb lameness localized to the elbow but without radiographic signs that had lesions identified by either computed tomography (CT) or nuclear scintigraphy and confirmed by arthroscopy were included. Signalment, duration of clinical signs before admission, surgical diagnosis, and treatment were recorded. RESULTS: Sixteen dogs (10 left, 6 right elbows) were identified. Median age was 30.1 months and median duration of clinical signs before admission was 15.6 months. CT or scintigraphy were strongly suggestive of elbow pathology before confirmation by arthroscopy. Medial coronoid pathology was identified in every abnormal elbow and osteochondrosis dissecans in 2 elbows. CONCLUSIONS: Elbow pathology not associated with radiographic changes can be identified by CT and scintigraphy. Coronoid pathology is the most likely diagnosis. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Absence of radiographic signs in elbows with clinical signs of lameness should be evaluated with advanced imaging techniques (CT, scintigraphy) and arthroscopy to identify the cause of lameness.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19236679/