Papaefthymiou S.K. DVM, Postgraduate student, Surgery & Obstetrics Unit, Companion Animal Clinic, School of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
Krystalli A.A. DVM, PhD student, Scholar of the State Scholarships Foundation, Surgery & Obstetrics Unit, Companion Animal Clinic, School of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
Bairamis T. DVM, Small Animal Rotating Intern, School of Veterinary Medicine, University College Dublin, Ireland
Patsikas M.N. DVM, MD, PhD, DipECVDI, Professor, Laboratory of Diagnostic Imaging, School of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
Prassinos N.N. DVM, PhD, Professor, Surgery & Obstetrics Unit, Companion Animal Clinic, School of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
Introduction
Humeral osteochondrosis (OH), is relatively uncommon, and is caused by a disturbance in endochondral ossification resulting in secondary osteoarthritis and lameness. The aim of the study is to compare the long-term clinical outcomes of surgical and conservative treatment of dogs with OH.
Clinical case
Nine dogs with unilateral (8 animals) or bilateral (1 animal) forelimb lameness (median: grade 2/ six-grade scale) lasting 1-11.5 months (median: 1.5 months) were presented to the Companion Animal Clinic, School of Veterinary Medicine, A.U.Th. from 2009 to 2017. Dogs were between 4-8 months old (median: 8 months), belonged to medium and large breeds (median: 24.95 kg), and their sex ratio was 5/4 male/female. ΟH was diagnosed in the humeral head (9 cases) or medial humeral condyle (1 case). Treatment was surgical in six cases (drilling and curettage) and conservative in four cases (restricted activity, weight reduction, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs).
Results
The dogs treated surgically had normal activity from the first month postoperatively, except for two dogs showing first and second-degree lameness after intense exercise. In contrast, all dogs treated conservatively show varying degrees of lameness.
Conclusions
Surgical treatment of OH seems to have better results than conservative treatment.
References
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