Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Dog with fecal incontinence caused by spinal hematoma and disk
By Cerda-Gonzalez, Sofia & Olby, Natasha J·Published in Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association·2006·Department of Clinical Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Fecal incontinence associated with epidural spinal hematoma and intervertebral disk extrusion in a dog.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 7-year-old male Great Dane was brought in because he had been experiencing fecal incontinence for two months. The vet found that he had weakness in his hind legs and suspected a problem in his spine. An MRI revealed that a disk in his back was pressing on his spinal cord, causing bleeding and nerve issues. The dog underwent surgery to relieve the pressure, and three weeks later, he fully recovered from the fecal incontinence and showed improvement in his hind leg function.
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Abstract
CASE DESCRIPTION: A 7-year-old castrated male Great Dane was evaluated because of a 2-month history of fecal incontinence. CLINICAL FINDINGS: On the basis of the presence of paraparesis and apparently normal spinal reflexes, the neurologic signs were localized in the region of the third thoracic to the third lumbar spinal cord segments. On the basis of the findings of magnetic resonance imaging, a presumptive diagnosis of a compressive intervertebral disk extrusion with secondary hemorrhage and epidural hematoma formation was made. TREATMENT AND OUTCOME: A right-sided hemil-aminectomy was performed (centered at the T13-L1 intervertebral space) to further characterize the lesion and decompress the spinal cord. The histopathologic diagnosis was extruded intervertebral disk material with chronic hemorrhage and inflammation. Three weeks after surgery, there was complete resolution of the dog's fecal incontinence and moderate improvements in its hind limb function. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Thoracolumbar spinal cord injuries can result in upper motor neuron fecal incontinence in ambulatory dogs. Epidural spinal hematomas may develop secondary to intervertebral disk herniations and cause spinal cord compression resulting in neurologic deficits.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16426194/