Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Epidural Gas Accumulation in Connection with Canine Degenerative Lumbosacral Disease.
- Journal:
- Frontiers in veterinary science
- Year:
- 2017
- Authors:
- Skytte, Ditte & Schmökel, Hugo
- Affiliation:
- Ryggcenter
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
Three dogs were brought in because they were very sensitive in their lower back area. Doctors used special imaging tests to look at their spines and found that a disc in the back was bulging and pressing on nearby nerves, which also caused gas to build up in the area around the spine. In two of the dogs, the gas was found in cyst-like structures within the spinal canal, while in the third dog, it was located in the bulging disc itself. Although it's not unusual for dogs to have gas in their spinal discs, finding it in this way is rare, and it's unclear what it means for their health. Two of the dogs had surgery to fix the problem, and they both improved and showed no signs of pain afterward.
Abstract
Three dogs were presented with lumbosacral hyperesthesia. Computerized tomography scans were performed in all the cases, and magnetic resonance imaging was also performed in cases 1 and 3. There was intervertebral disc (IVD) protrusion causing nerve root compression and epidural gas accumulation in all the three cases. The gas-filled cystic structures in cases 1 and 3 were within the spinal canal; in case 2, the gas was within the disc protrusion. The IVD vacuum phenomenon is relatively common in dogs, but the formation of an epidural gas accumulation in cases of a lumbar disc protrusion is rare. The clinical significance of these epidural gas accumulations is unknown. Two of the dogs were treated surgically, improved after surgery, and showed no signs of pain in the follow-up examinations.
Find similar cases for your pet
PetCaseFinder finds other peer-reviewed reports of pets with the same symptoms, plus a plain-English summary of what was tried across them.
Search related cases →Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28459053/