Abstract
Simple SummaryAgility dog is one of the most popular canine sports among pet owners, and agility-related soft tissue injuries are becoming frequent in dogs. The need to check the progression of shoulder tendon healing in order to permit a safe return to sport is now urgent. The aim of the present study was to help veterinary sports medicine professionals check the progression of shoulder tendon healing in lesions that have been treated with a standardised physiotherapeutic program. The results showed that ultrasonographic examination could be considered a reliable method of following the progression of healing of shoulder tendon lesions when carried out every two months within the six months after injury, together with the administration of a standardised physiotherapeutic program. The ultrasonographic protocol should be associated with a clinical evaluation in order to give the correct return to play time to the owners.The aim of this study is to investigate the use of shoulder ultrasound as a method of predicting the likelihood of returning to competition in agility dogs with shoulder teno-muscular injuries after a standardised rehabilitation protocol. Thirty-two agility dogs with a clinical and ultrasonographic diagnosis of shoulder teno-muscular injury were included in a prospective study with physical and ultrasound examinations at the time of diagnosis (T0) and at two (T2), four (T4) and six (T6) months; during this period, the dogs received rehabilitation treatments. The endpoint of the study was to obtain information regarding participation in agility competitions 12 months after diagnosis, based on telephone interviews with the owners. The clinical lameness score (CLS) and the ultrasound lesion score (ULS) were used as outcome measurements. The CLS indicated partial recovery from a shoulder injury at T2 (78%), while the ULS indicated no satisfactory recovery at T2 in any patient. At 4 months, the CLS alone was not a valuable predictor of full recovery from a shoulder injury in agility dogs. Relative Risk indicated that, at T2, ultrasound was 23.8 times more valuable in identifying a shoulder lesion as compared to clinical lameness score (CLS), and it was 2.53 times more valuable at T4.
Highlights
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Agility dog has increased its popularity in recent years, and it is a worldwide performed canine sport
From May 2014 to May 2018, 32 agility dogs performing in agility competitions, which were presented to Clinica Veterinaria Castellarano (Italy) for a US examination of the shoulders, were included in the study
The inclusion criteria were: at least one month of persistent forelimb lameness due to trauma that occurred during agility training or performance, a clinical orthopaedic evaluation suggesting shoulder pain, a radiographic study of the shoulders and elbows ruling out major orthopaedic diseases, ultrasound diagnosis of shoulder teno-muscular diseases with three ultrasonographic follow-ups within six months, enrolment in a rehabilitation program in a specialised canine sports medicine clinic and telephone follow up six months after resuming competition
Summary
Agility dog has increased its popularity in recent years, and it is a worldwide performed canine sport. Competition has become more challenging for dogs, and injuries have increased in number and severity. Before 2009, reports of agility-related injuries were anecdotal [1]. From 2009 to 2018, preliminary retrospective survey-based studies reported that soft tissue injuries were predominant and that the shoulder, back, phalanges and neck were the most commonly affected regions [2,3].
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