Canine Elbow Joint Research Articles

A Retrospective Long-Term Evaluation of Ununited Anconeal Process Excision on the Canine Elbow

SummaryA retrospective study was done to evaluate the long-term clinical radio-graphic effects of ununited anconeal process excision performed in dogs 5 to 12 months of age. Six dogs (seven surgically treated elbows) were evaluated at a mean of 65 months postoperatively for front limb lameness, elbow range of motion, and radiographic evidence of osteoarthritis. Limb use was considered good to excellent in 6 of 7 dogs. Osteo-arthritis, which progressed in all surgically treated elbows, was considered severe in three, moderate in one and mild to moderate in three. Early excision of an ununited anconeal process results in progressive osteoarthritis and a mild decrease in range of motion but good long-term function of the canine elbow joint.Long-term evaluation of dogs with excision of an ununited anconeal process was performed. Long-term limb use was considered good to excellent in six of seven dogs. Early excision of an ununited anconeal process results in progressive osteoarthritis and a mild decrease in range of motion but good long-term function of the canine elbow joint.

Post natal development of the canine elbow joint: a light and electron microscopical study

The elbows of 13 puppy cadavers were dissected, samples were taken for light and electron microscopy, and the thickness of the articular cartilage of the distal humerus and proximal ulna was measured. Throughout post natal development differences were found in the arrangement of the growth plate and articular chondrocytes. At birth, the articular surface had remnants of a fibrous limiting membrane that was continuous with the perichondrium, a finding not previously recorded in dogs. Orientation of the collagen fibrils within the matrix of the articular cartilage was initially lacking but became established by three weeks. In the humerus cartilage canals were present up to 12 weeks old. The articular cartilage of the humeral condyle varied in thickness across the joint surface, being thicker on the medial than on the lateral side; it was also thicker at the apex of the medial coronoid process. These regions of thick cartilage correspond with the sites where cartilage defects arise in elbow osteochondrosis. No histological evidence was found that the medial coronoid process of the ulna is a separate centre of ossification.

Some aspects of the radiographical examination of the canine elbow joint.

ABSTRACTA radiological method of examining the elbow joint of the dog is described with particular reference to conditions which result in osteoarthrosis. The importance of taking oblique projections for the diagnosis of osteochondritis dissecans of the distal humerus and ununited medial coronoid process of the ulna is discussed.

The surgical treatment of osteochondritis dissecans and ununited coronoid process in the canine elbow joint

ABSTRACTThe case details of ten dogs with osteochondritis dissecans of the medial condyle of the humerus and seven dogs with ununited coronoid process are presented. Seventeen dogs were treated surgically and the medial approach to the elbow is described.