Spine disorder/problema espinal

Radiographies were unremarkable.

On a weekend OOH service a 5 years old dog was presented unable to stand up or walk on his own, and needing to be carried by his owner. After a throughout exam we realized that he had several bruises and wounds in his skin but, most notably, he had paraplegia on his back legs.

Abnormal sitting position 

Durante el servicio de urgencias de un fin de semana, un perro de 5 años nos llega incapaz de levantarse o sentarse por sí mismo, requiriendo que su dueño lo llevase. Tras un completo examen nos damos cuenta que tiene varios rasguños y heridas en la piel pero, lo más notable es que presenta paraplegia en sus patas traseras (read more)

His sitting position was a concern, keeping both legs extending, and his “withdrawal” reflexes were very poor as well as the trunci reflex. His pelvic limbs and tails had no feeling unless you do put a lot of pressure (deep pain). Any other reflexes (perineal, and cranial nerves examination) were intact or unremarkable. Otherwise he was bright, conscious and alert.

Su posición de sentado era preocupante, manteniendo ambas patas extendidas, y su reflejo de retirada era muy escaso, al igual que el reflejo troncal. Sus miembros pélvicos y cola eran insensibles a no ser que ejercieras mucha presión (dolor profundo). Cualquier otro reflejo (perineal, examen de los nervios craneales) estaban intactos. Por lo demás, el perro estaba alerta, consciente, y activo.

So far, we knew he had been involved in a RTA, but no one witnessed the accident. We were expecting the worse on an xray, but no evidence of a traumatic lesion was found.

Sabíamos que se vió envuelto en un accidente de tráfico, pero nadie lo vió. Nos esperábamos lo peor en la radiografía, pero no obtuvimos evidencia de lesión traumática.

Being OOH, we offered starting with some strong pain relief and a strong NSAID, with guarded prognosis, that would be reassessed according to his progress.

Al ser un servicio de urgencias, ofrecimos un analgésico potente, con un fuerte antiinflamatorio, y pronóstico reservado, que se revisaría según la evolución.

Unfortunately, there was no significant change, and at this point his case was referred to a neuro specialist.

MRI, magnetic resonance image

Por desgracia, no vimos cambios significativos, y en este punto optamos por referir el caso a un neuro especialista.

Only through an MRI we learnt that he had suffered an acute luxation of the vertebrae and his prognosis for recovery was extremely poor. The difficult decision of considering his bad quality of life lead to his owners to stop his suffering and let him go.

Sólo con una resonancia magnética supimos que había sufrido una luxación vertebral aguda, y su pronóstico para recuperarse era extremadamente bajo. La difícil decisión de replantearse la calidad de vida que le esperaba, hizo que sus dueños optaran por acabar con su sufrimiento y dejarle marchar.