Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Surgical repair of rib head luxation causing spinal cord injury
By Sterna, Jacek Cezary et al.·Published in Acta veterinaria Scandinavica·2021·Department of Small Animal Diseases and Clinic·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Surgical treatment of post-traumatic luxation of rib heads with spinal cord compression in a cat.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A 4-year-old female domestic shorthair cat was brought in because she couldn't walk for two weeks due to a spinal cord injury caused by a dislocated rib head. After a CT scan, the vet found that the dislocated ribs were pressing on her spinal cord. The cat underwent surgery to remove the rib fragments and relieve the pressure. Four weeks later, she was able to walk again, and two years post-surgery, she had mostly recovered but still showed some coordination issues.
People also search for: cat can't walk · cat spinal cord injury treatment · cat rib dislocation surgery
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Luxation of the rib head with intrusion into the intervertebral foramen seems to be rare in cats. Only one report has been published describing a cat with non-ambulatory paraparesis, which was managed conservatively. Here we report a case of rib head luxation that was managed surgically. CASE PRESENTATION: A 4-year-old, female domestic shorthair cat with a two-week history of non-ambulatory paraparesis was presented at our clinic. Based on history and neurological examination, a diagnosis of thoracolumbar spinal cord lesion of traumatic origin was made. Computed tomography scanning revealed mild scoliosis, a luxation of the 3rd and 4th right rib heads and penetration into the spinal canal through intervertbral foramina. Surgical management using right dorsal approach to the spine was performed. The spinal cord was decompressed by cutting and removing of proximal ribs' fragments by rotation and pulling out from the intervertebral foramina. The cat was ambulatory and paraparetic four weeks after surgery. Two years after surgery the cat regained functional gait, but ataxia remained. CONCLUSIONS: We report the first case of a surgical treatment of rib head luxation and intrusion into the spinal canal in a cat. The applied procedure resulted in an improvement of neurological signs.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34930394/