Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
How to measure walking problems in dogs with spinal injury
By Sherif, Tamara et al.·Published in Frontiers in veterinary science·2023·Department of Small Animal Medicine and Surgery, Germany·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Quantification of spinal ataxia in dogs with thoracolumbar spinal cord injury.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of dogs with spinal cord injuries were observed for ataxia, which is a lack of coordination that can make them appear unsteady while walking. Researchers used a special treadmill to analyze their movements compared to healthy dogs. They found that the dogs with spinal injuries had more variability in their walking patterns and took longer to support themselves on their legs. This study helps understand how spinal injuries affect a dog's ability to walk and could lead to better treatments for improving their mobility.
People also search for: dog ataxia treatment · spinal cord injury in dogs · how to help my dog walk better
Abstract
The clinical sign of ataxia is related to several neurological diseases and is seen in conjunction with paresis in dogs with spinal cord injury (SCI). Endeavours to objectify canine spinal ataxia in SCI remain limited. The aim of this clinical study was to determine and quantify differences between gait characteristics of ataxic dogs with thoracolumbar myelopathy and healthy control dogs using a computer-and treadmill-based gait analysis system. Five dogs with spinal ataxia and six healthy dogs underwent video-and computer-assisted gait analysis while walking on a four-ground reaction force plate treadmill system (maximum speed of 0.7 m/s). Spatio-temporal and kinetic gait characteristics regarding the dogs' locomotion were analysed with a focus on the individual coefficient of variation (CV), as a potential measure for quantification of the level of ataxia. Ataxic dogs with thoracolumbar SCI showed no effect on symmetry indices but higher variability in spatio-temporal and kinetic gait parameters mainly in the pelvic, but also in the thoracic limbs. Double support phase of the individual limb was prolonged in SCI dogs at the cost of the single support and swing phase. Reduced peaks of ground reaction forces (GRF) could potentially be explained by reduction of muscle strength, as a strategy of avoiding falling by taking enthusiastic steps, or by alteration of the rhythmogenic spinal circuits between the pelvic and thoracic limb pattern generators.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37614460/