Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Disk disease in small dogs' lower neck and surgery outcomes
By Fitch, R B et al.·Published in Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association·2000·Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Caudal cervical intervertebral disk disease in the small dog: role of distraction and stabilization in ventral slot decompression.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of small dogs weighing less than 35 pounds was treated for neck pain caused by cervical intervertebral disk disease, which is when disks in the neck bulge and press on the spinal cord. The most common issue was found between the second and third neck vertebrae, but many dogs had problems further down the neck. While surgery to relieve pressure helped some dogs, those with issues further down the neck had worse outcomes. However, dogs with these more severe problems showed significant improvement when additional surgical techniques were used to stabilize the area after the initial surgery.
People also search for: dog neck pain treatment · small dog cervical disk disease · ventral slot decompression for dogs · dog neck surgery recovery
Abstract
The clinical outcomes in 112 dogs weighing less than 35 pounds that were presented with cervical intervertebral disk protrusions were retrospectively evaluated. Although the second to third cervical (C2 to C3) intervertebral space was the most common site (27%) of disk protrusion, 57% of disk protrusions presented were caudal to the fourth cervical (C4) vertebra. Dogs with cranial intervertebral disk protrusions, including the C2 to C3 and C3 to C4 intervertebral disk spaces, responded favorably to ventral slot decompression. By comparison, caudal intervertebral disk protrusions (within the C4 to the seventh cervical [C7] intervertebral disk spaces) responded less favorably to ventral slot decompression, demonstrating significantly more severe clinical effects in motor function, comfort, recovery, and long-term outcome following surgery. Significant improvement in clinical results was seen in caudal disk protrusions when additional surgical distraction and stabilization were provided following ventral slot decompression.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10667409/