Evaluation of clinical and radiographic findings in dogs with thoracolumbar spinal fractures and luxations

Abstract

The aim of this work is to evaluate the clinical and radiographic findings in 38 dogs with thoracolumbar vertebral fractures and luxations. Regarding the degree of spinal stability, 33 animals had unstable fractures and five had stable fractures. Radiographic examination scored 100 diagnostic sensitivity. However, a significant portion of animals with trans-surgical vertebral lesions were not diagnosed on conventional radiographs. There was a statistically significant difference in terms of the degree of vertebral displacement, neurological dysfunction and response to therapy, when comparing 0-25% with 76-100% vertebral displacement. Radiographic examination was sufficient to diagnose vertebral fractures and luxations, but did not allow visualization of all bone changes.