Surgical Treatment of Lumbosacral Instability Caused by Discospondylitis in Four Dogs

Abstract

Lumbosacral discospondylitis may not respond well to conservative treatment because of the mobility of the affected space. Surgical treatment involving distraction and stabilization to obtain intervertebral fusion is very effective in treating lumbosacral instability caused by discospondylitis.

Diagnosis and treatment of lumbosacral discospondylitis in a calf

“…In cattle, the location may be cervical, thoracic or lumbosacral [3-5]. In dogs, the greater mobility of the lumbosacral space compared with other intervertebral spaces has been suggested as the cause for a predilection of disease at this site [10,17]. …”

“…The further the changes of the lumbosacral discospondylitis progress, the more neurological deficits (e.g. loss of sensitivity and proprioception, posterior paresis or paralysis, cauda equina syndrome) and muscle atrophy [3,4,13,17] may occur. In our case, differential diagnoses such as meningitis, vertebral fracture or luxation, vertebral anomaly, spinal abscess, oedema, haemorrhage or neoplasia in the vertebral canal were less likely based on clinical, radiographic and cerebrospinal fluid examinations.…”

“…Medical treatment is recommended in affected dogs that do not have clinical or radiographic signs of instability of the vertebral column or compression of the spinal cord. If these signs occur, decompression, curettage and/or surgical stabilisation are recommended in small animals [1,10,17,19]. At this stage of the disease, the prognosis is guarded to poor in horses and cattle [3,8,18].…”

“…In dogs and horses, the administration of broad-spectrum bactericidal antibiotics for at least six weeks is considered the treatment of choice [1,2,10,17,18]. The prognosis is improved considerably with early and long-term treatment.…”

Treatment of 10 dogs with discospondylitis by fluoroscopy‐guided percutaneous discectomy

“…Furthermore, dorsal laminectomy has been shown to cause a marked decrease in the stiffness of the spine in all phases of flexion and extension, an increase in its range of motion, and a 75 per cent decrease in its ultimate flexion bending strength (Smith and Walter 1988). As a result, a laminectomy usually involves either the placement of implants, for example, lagged bone screws or pins, across the articular facets or plating of the vertebral bodies (Auger andothers 2000, Denny andButterworth 2000). In contrast, percutaneous discectomy is minimally invasive and does not affect the bony structure.…”