Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Lumbosacral meningoceles and tethered cord in dogs and surgery options
By Roynard, Patrick & Dewey, Curtis Wells·Published in Frontiers in veterinary science·2025·College of Veterinary Medicine, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Lumbosacral (myelo) meningoceles in dogs, related tethered cord syndrome, and their surgical management: review of the literature and clinical experience.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A bulldog puppy with a spinal defect was experiencing issues like urinary incontinence and trouble walking, which are signs of a condition called lumbosacral myelomeningocele. After surgery to correct the defect, many puppies showed improvement in their ability to walk, with about 82% of those with walking difficulties getting better after the operation. However, improvements in urinary and fecal control were less common, with about 48% seeing some progress after one month. Overall, while not all symptoms resolved completely, many puppies benefited from the surgical intervention.
People also search for: bulldog puppy spinal defect treatment · lumbosacral myelomeningocele surgery · dog urinary incontinence after surgery
Abstract
Neural tube defects (NTDs) are a group of congenital malformations characterized by various levels of protrusions of meninges with or without nervous tissue through incomplete osseous coverage (cranium bifidum for the cranial forms and spina bifida for spinal meningoceles/myelomeningoceles [MCs/MMCs]), with associated dorsal midline cutaneous signs. Amongst a confusing vocabulary, spina bifida is both the term most used to refer to NTDs and the most common manifestation of NTDs, with a predilection for the lumbosacral area in screw-tail breeds. With the growing popularity of bulldogs, lumbosacral (LS) MCs/MMCs are increasingly encountered, and small animal practitioners should learn to recognize them. Clinical signs may include urinary and/or fecal incontinence, pelvic limb neurological deficits with bunny hopping (neurolocalization L4-caudal or subset), and cutaneous signs (swirl of hair and dimple); the combination of which is pathognomonic of these disorders in bulldog puppies. Since these malformations often trigger a tethered cord syndrome (TCS), neurological worsening is possible. While historically reported to be somewhat hopeless regarding neurological improvement, isolated case reports, small case series, and personal experience of the author indicates that post-operative improvement is possible. Review of the literature (14 cases) and personal surgical experience (9 cases) retrieved 23 canine cases of LS MC/MMC treated surgically with follow-up. Clinical presentation, diagnostic imaging findings (CT and MRI), and intra- and post-operative findings are discussed in this article, along with a detailed description of the surgical technique. Pelvic limb deficits improve post-surgically in most cases (14/17 [82%] cases with pre-operative deficits and follow-up ≥1 month) albeit sometimes only marginally. Urinary/fecal continence can improve also, although less frequently (10/21 [48%] at 1 month follow-up and 8/21 [38%] at ≥6 months).
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40201081/