Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
How spinal cord damage severity matches symptoms in 60 dogs with disc
By Henke, D et al.·Published in Veterinary journal (London, England : 1997)·2013·Department of Clinical Veterinary Medicine·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Correlations between severity of clinical signs and histopathological changes in 60 dogs with spinal cord injury associated with acute thoracolumbar intervertebral disc disease.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of 60 dogs with severe back problems caused by intervertebral disc disease were evaluated after showing signs like loss of movement and sensitivity. The study found that while many dogs with worse neurological signs had more severe spinal cord damage, some dogs with milder damage still lost feeling in their legs. This means that not all clinical signs directly reflect the actual damage to the spinal cord. Understanding these differences can help veterinarians better assess and treat dogs with similar injuries.
People also search for: dog back injury treatment · intervertebral disc disease in dogs · signs of spinal cord injury in dogs
Abstract
The outcome of spinal surgery in dogs with absent voluntary motor function and nociception following intervertebral disc (IVD) herniation is highly variable, which likely attests to differences in the severity of spinal cord damage. This retrospective study evaluated the extent to which neurological signs correlated with histologically detected spinal cord damage in 60 dogs that were euthanased because of thoracolumbar IVD herniation. Clinical neurological grades correlated significantly with the extent of white matter damage (P<0.001). However, loss of nociception also occurred in 6/31 (19%) dogs with relatively mild histological changes. The duration of clinical signs, Schiff-Sherrington posture, loss of reflexes and pain on spinal palpation were not significantly associated with the severity of spinal cord damage. Although clinical-pathological correlation was generally good, some clinical signs frequently thought to indicate severe cord injury did not always correlate with the degree of cord damage, suggesting functional rather than structural impairment in some cases.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23702280/