34th Annual Scientific Meeting proceedings

Objectives:

Small breed dogs are occasionally presented with clinical signs resulting from multiple cervical disc protrusions. Dorsal laminectomy and ventral slot techniques have been described. We retrospectively evaluated the long-term outcomes of 29 patients with multiple cervical disc protrusions treated with distraction fusion

Methods:

Patients were included if they weighed less than 10 kg and had cervical radiographs, MRI and CT available for review. All patients underwent distraction fusion using 2.0 titanium screws, titanium cages and PMMA. Data collected included the duration of clinical signs before surgery, neurological status before and after surgery, preoperative treatment, number of compressive lesions, number of adjacent non-compressive but suspected lesions, presence of spondyloarthrosis and complications

Results:

Nineteen patients were identified from 2020 to 2024; three had previously undergone a ventral slot or distraction fusion. Seven patients underwent surgery on two spaces, three on three spaces, six on four spaces, and three on five spaces. The average time to ambulation was 38 days. Complications included cement breakage in two patients and infections at the surgical site/discospondylitis in three patients. Two patients required a second intervention for recurrence and infections in adjacent spaces. The median follow-up time was 12 months, and the outcome was considered excellent in 18 patients and fair in one patient. None of the patients had a poor outcome

Conclusions:

Distraction fusion with 2.0 titanium screws, cages, and PMMA is a valid alternative for small breed dogs presenting with multiple disc protrusions.