Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Dog weak in back legs after microchip placed in neck and surgery
By Morrell, Breanne et al.·Published in Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association·2023·BluePearl Specialty and Emergency Pet Hospital, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Case Report: Microchip Implantation Within the Cervical Spine, a Neurologic Evaluation, and Surgical Correction.
Plain-English summary
A 5-month-old male Japanese Chin was brought to the vet after suddenly becoming weak in his back legs and having trouble walking, which started right after getting a microchip implanted. The vet found that the microchip had moved into the spinal canal and was pressing on the spinal cord, causing the weakness. They performed surgery to remove the microchip, and while the dog showed improvement, he still had some mild coordination issues in his back legs six weeks later. Overall, the surgery helped prevent further damage to his spinal cord.
People also search for: dog weakness after microchip · Japanese Chin spinal surgery · puppy ataxia treatment
Abstract
A 5 mo old male Japanese chin was examined 1 mo following the sudden onset of pelvic limb weakness and ataxia immediately after microchip placement. Neurological examination revealed an ambulatory paraparesis, which was worse on the right side, with additional weakness noted in the right thoracic limb. Lesion localization was C6-T2 spinal cord segments, worse on the right. Radiographic imaging of the cervical spine revealed a microchip at the location of the C7-T1 intervertebral space. Computed tomography revealed a microchip within the spinal canal causing spinal cord compression at the level of the C7-T1 intervertebral disc space. Surgical removal of the microchip was performed, and the patient recovered well. A 6 wk follow-up neurologic examination showed persistent mild ataxia in the pelvic limbs. This case supports previously reported cases of permanent spinal cord damage caused by microchip placement. Surgical removal of the microchip resulted in the improvement of neurologic signs. Although extraction of the microchip did not resolve all neurologic deficits, surgery prevented further migration and possible damage to the spinal cord.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37167248/