Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Sudden back disc injury after exercise in 48 dogs
By McKee, W M et al.·Published in The Veterinary record·2010·Willows Referral Service·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Presumptive exercise-associated peracute thoracolumbar disc extrusion in 48 dogs.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of 48 dogs, mostly around seven years old, were brought in for sudden back problems after exercise, showing symptoms like inability to walk and loss of bladder control. Most of these dogs had issues with their spinal discs, which were confirmed through X-rays and other imaging. The majority were treated without surgery, and follow-up showed that all the dogs who couldn't walk before were able to do so again, although a few still had problems with bowel control. Sadly, one dog had to be euthanized due to the severity of its condition.
People also search for: dog back problems after exercise · dog unable to walk treatment · dog disc extrusion recovery
Abstract
Forty-eight dogs were diagnosed with presumptive exercise-associated peracute thoracolumbar disc extrusion. The median age was seven years (range two to 11 years), and median bodyweight was 23 kg (range 10 to 41 kg). The duration of signs before presentation ranged from 0.5 to four days. Twenty-nine dogs were non-ambulatory, of which 17 were incontinent and two had lost pain perception. Pelvic limbs were hyporeflexic or areflexic in 11 dogs. Intervertebral disc narrowing was evident on radiographs in 44 dogs. Myelography demonstrated a small, extradural space-occupying lesion dorsal to an intervertebral disc between T11-12 and L3-4 with adjacent spinal cord swelling. Forty-six dogs were treated non-surgically, one was euthanased and one was managed by hemilaminectomy (and subsequently euthanased). Follow-up information was available for 46 dogs 1.5 to 55 months after injury (median 22 months) showing that pelvic limb function had improved in all cases and all non-ambulatory dogs had regained the ability to walk. Six dogs remained faecally incontinent, and one dog remained urinarily and faecally incontinent.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20418513/