Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Surgery alone vs stem cell treatment for dogs with acute spinal disc
By Fernando Swiech Bach et al.·Published in Frontiers in Veterinary Science·2019·Department of Neurology, Clinivet Veterinary Hospital, Curitiba, Brazil, CH·View original on DOAJ →
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Original publication title: Comparison of the Efficacy of Surgical Decompression Alone and Combined With Canine Adipose Tissue-Derived Stem Cell Transplantation in Dogs With Acute Thoracolumbar Disk Disease and Spinal Cord Injury
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of 22 dogs with acute paraplegia caused by a herniated disc in the spine underwent surgery to relieve pressure on the spinal cord. Half of the dogs received just the surgery, while the other half also received a treatment involving stem cells from fat tissue to help with recovery. The dogs that received the stem cell treatment regained their ability to walk in about 7 days, while those that only had surgery took about 21 days. Additionally, the stem cell group had a shorter hospital stay after surgery. This suggests that combining stem cell therapy with surgery can help dogs recover more quickly from spinal injuries.
People also search for: dog paraplegia treatment · stem cell therapy for dogs · herniated disc surgery recovery dog
Abstract
Paraparesis and paraplegia are common conditions in dogs, most often caused by a disc herniation in the thoracolumbar spinal segments (T3-L3), which is a neurological emergency. Surgical decompression should be performed as soon as possible when spinal compression is revealed by myelography, computed tomography, or magnetic resonance imaging. Mesenchymal stem-cell therapy is a promising adjunct treatment for spinal cord injury. This study sought to compare the effects of surgical decompression alone and combined with an allogeneic transplantation of canine adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells (cAd-MSCs) in the treatment of dogs with acute paraplegia. Twenty-two adult dogs of different breeds with acute paraplegia resulting from a Hansen type I disc herniation in the thoracolumbar region (T3-L3) were evaluated using computed tomography. All dogs had grade IV or V lesions and underwent surgery within 7 days after symptom onset. They were randomly assigned into two groups, 11 dogs in each. The dogs in Group I underwent hemilaminectomy, and those in Group II underwent hemilaminectomy and cAd-MSC epidural transplantation. In both groups, all dogs with grade IV lesions recovered locomotion. The median locomotion recovery period was 7 days for Group II and 21 days for Group I, and this difference was statistically significant (p < 0.05). Moreover, the median length of hospitalization after the surgery was statistically different between the two groups (Group I, 4 days; Group II, 3 days; p < 0.05). There were no statistically significant between-group differences regarding the number of animals with grade IV or V lesions that recovered locomotion and nociception. In conclusion, compared with surgical decompression alone, the use of epidural cAd-MSC transplantation with surgical decompression may contribute to faster locomotor recovery in dogs with acute paraplegia and reduce the length of post-surgery hospitalization.
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Search related cases →Original publication on DOAJ: https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2019.00383