title: A retrospective study of ventral fenestration for disk diseases in dogs.
abstract: Sixty-six dogs suffering from intervertebral disk diseases on cervical and/or thoracolumbar disks were treated by a ventral fenestration. The breeds affected with disk diseases were Dachshund (65.1%), Beagle (15.2%), Shih Tsu (4.5%), Pekingese (4.5%), and others (18.2%). Sites suffered from disk diseases and received disk fenestration most frequently were from T10-11 to L2-3. However, other disks were also needed the operation in some cases. An average number of disks received fenestration was 6.0. Days to walk after the fenestration in 51 cases varied 1 to 120 days (average: 14.9 +/- 22.0 days, mean +/- S.D.) depending on their severity. The recovery rates from the follow-up study were as follows: In grade I (3 cases, able to walk with back pain) and grade II (14 cases, slight ataxia and paresis) it was 100%, respectively. The rates in grade III (23 cases, paraplegia with positive deep pain) and grade IV (26 cases, paraplegia with lack of deep pain) were 73.9% and 65.4%, respectively. A few recurrence after the operation were observed in this study. As a result, the ventral fenestration was extremely effective as a treatment for disk diseases in the dog.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Surgery, Faculty of Agriculture, Yamaguchi University, Japan.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nakama
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Taura
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tabaru
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yasuda
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002574:Cervical Vertebrae; D004283:Dog Diseases; D004285:Dogs; D005260:Female; D007403:Intervertebral Disc; D008124:Locomotion; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae; D008297:Male; D010146:Pain / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000662:veterinary; D010264:Paraplegia / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000662:veterinary; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012737:Sex Factors; D013045:Species Specificity; D013122:Spinal Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery / Q000662:veterinary*; D013904:Thoracic Vertebrae