Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Surgery to treat spinal disc herniation in 12 cats
By Tyroller, Florian et al.·Published in Journal of feline medicine and surgery·2024·Kleintierzentrum Germering, Germany·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Retrospective study of partial lateral corpectomy to treat thoracic and lumbar intervertebral disc herniation in 12 cats.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A 5-year-old domestic shorthair cat was brought in for severe back pain and difficulty walking due to a herniated disc in the spine. The veterinarian performed a surgical procedure called partial lateral corpectomy to relieve pressure on the spinal cord. While some cats showed good improvement after surgery, there were serious risks involved, including significant bleeding during the operation, which affected a quarter of the cats in the study. Unfortunately, a few cats did not survive the surgery, but others experienced varying degrees of recovery, with some returning to normal function within months.
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Abstract
OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to describe the safety and effectiveness of thoracic or lumbar partial lateral corpectomy (PLC) in cats with spinal cord compression due to intervertebral disc herniation (IVH). METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted of 12 client-owned cats from two academic and one private referral veterinary centres. Cross-sectional imaging was available in 12 cats for evaluation of disc herniation. Nine cats had postoperative imaging for evaluation of slot creation and decompression. Neurological examination was performed for assessment of pre- and postoperative status. Complications were evaluated. RESULTS: Seven cats had severe (>50%), four moderate (>20 to <50%) and one mild (<20%) spinal cord compression on cross-sectional imaging. IVH occurred at Th12-13 in five cases, at L1-2 in two cases and at Th3-4, Th13-L1, L4-5 and L5-6 in one case each. After PLC, two cats had insufficient decompression (>20% remaining spinal cord compression), five had good decompression (<20% remaining spinal cord compression) and complete decompression (normal shape of the spinal cord) was achieved in two cats. Outcomes included five cats with an excellent result, three with significant improvement, one with mild improvement and three cats that died intra- or postoperatively due to extensive intraoperative bleeding. One cat was euthanased as a result of neurological deterioration 5 months postoperatively. The median follow-up period was 13.2 months (range 0 days to 84 months). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: PLC in cats offers a potential treatment option for IVH to decompress the spinal cord. Fatal haemorrhage associated with this surgery is a significant risk, as occurred in 25% of the cats in this study. Surgeons should especially be aware of the potential for intraoperative haemorrhage and the need for sufficient slot creation to achieve sufficient spinal cord decompression and avoid complications.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39720880/