A 50-step walking test for analysis of recovery after decompressive surgery for thoracolumbar disc herniation in dogs.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Despite its importance, there is no agreed definition of recovery of ambulation in dogs with spinal cord injury.

Objectives

To validate a new walking test in dogs recovering from thoracolumbar spinal cord injury.

Animals

Two hundred twenty-four dogs weighing <20 kg: 120 normally ambulatory dogs, plus 104 dogs undergoing decompressive surgery for acute thoracolumbar intervertebral disc herniation.

Methods

Prospective cohort studies. The distance each freely-ambulatory dog walked during 50 step cycles was regressed on ulna length. For each postsurgical dog, we recorded when the calculated 50-step distance was completed without falling, or their inability to complete this distance by 4 months or more after surgery. Bayesian analysis compared outcomes fo

SUBMITTER: Rosen S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9511074 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature