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Peer-reviewed veterinary case report

Rottweiler with neck disc extrusion after failed spine surgery

By Marchevsky, A M & Richardson, J L·Published in Australian veterinary journal·1999·Murdoch University, Australia·View original on PubMed

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Original publication title: Disc extrusion in a Rottweiler dog with caudal cervical spondylomyelopathy after failure of intervertebral distraction/stabilisation.

Species:
dog

Plain-English summary

A Rottweiler was brought in after 8 weeks of trouble walking due to weakness in the hind legs. The vet found that a problem in the neck area was causing the issue, and initial surgery to stabilize the affected discs didn’t work as planned. This led to a more serious condition where the dog couldn't walk at all. A second surgery was performed, which involved a different approach to stabilize the neck, and thankfully, the dog made a nearly full recovery and was able to walk again.

People also search for: Rottweiler hind leg weakness · dog neck surgery recovery · cervical spondylomyelopathy treatment

Abstract

A Rottweiler dog was presented with an 8 week history of hindlimb ataxia. Neurological examination localised the lesion to the cervical spinal cord. Myelography demonstrated dynamic compressive lesions at C5-6 and C6-7 consistent with a diagnosis of caudal cervical spondylomyelopathy. Distraction/stabilisation of both discs was performed using interbody polymethyl methacrylate. Both implants subsequently failed leading to extrusion of the remaining dorsal annulus fibrosus of the C5-6 intervertebral disc and nonambulatory tetraparesis. A ventral slot combined with distraction/stabilisation using screws and polymethyl methacrylate was performed and resulted in nearly full neurological recovery.

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Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10376097/