Clinical management of dogs with presumptive diagnosis of cervical intervertebral disc disease: 78 cases (2006-2017)

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This study aimed to identify dogs with a presumptive diagnosis of cervical intervertebral disc disease (IVDD; C1-C5 or C6-T2) submitted to clinical management and evaluate the outcome. This study also aimed to demonstrate the age, sex, and treatment response according to the neurological degree, and verify whether those factors could potentially influence the outcome. The data were obtained from patients with a neurological dysfunction, admitted at the Veterinary Hospital from January 2006 to March 2017. In addition to patient records, the tutors answered a questionnaire related to the success of therapy. A hundred and seventy-seven neurological records were evaluated, and 78 were included in the study according to the inclusion criteria. The most frequent breeds were Dachshunds, followed by mixed-breed dogs. Regarding the neurological dysfunction degree, 58.97% presented grade I (only neck pain), 25.64% were grade II (ambulatory tetraparesis), and 15.38% grade III (nonambulatory tetraparesis). Absolute and partial space rest were performed in 75.64% and 24.36% of the cases, respectively. The minimum rest time was one week and could come up to four weeks. Most dogs were small-sized (≤15kg). The recovery was satisfactory in 87.17% of dogs and unsatisfactory in 12.83%. Regarding recurrence, we observed that 10.3% of dogs presented satisfactory recovery. The clinical treatment for dogs with cervical IVDD can be indicated with adequate clinical response to dysfunction degrees ranging from I to III, either at rest or in restricted space and with a low rate of relapse.