Dog elbow dysplasia is a genetic disease, which has a high incidence in middle and large dogs. Some people think that elbow dysplasia is more common than hip dysplasia in large dogs. Elbow dysplasia is a group of diseases. This group of diseases includes nonunion of elbow joint process or elbow joint breakthrough crack, coronal breakthrough crack, humeral medial condylar chondritis, elbow joint imbalance and subsequent proliferation and inflammation.
The main clinical symptom is forelimb claudication. The degree of claudication is divided into six grades: 0 grade means no obvious symptoms. 1 is an occasional limp, not after every step or standing up. Level 2 means that you will see a slight limp every step you take. Grade 3 is moderate claudication. Level 4 is a severe limp. Grade 5 is severe claudication, and sometimes the affected limb can't bear the weight. Grade 6 means that the affected limb can't bear weight at any time.
We believe that a very important reason for the dysplasia of elbow joint is the imbalance of elbow joint caused by the uneven development of radioulna (usually the ulna is short).
Dog elbow dysplasia
The picture above shows the right hand of an animal. Seen from the back, the left is the inside of the animal, and the right is the outside of the animal. We can see the animal sitting like a lady (a dog on the right in the first picture), with both hands inside. We can see that the elbow joint of this animal is seriously stressed on the inside and pulled on the outside. So the stress on this joint is concentrated on the inside (the left side of the figure). Eventually, this hand will suffer from elbow dysplasia syndrome due to medial wear, so it will limp with pain and then proliferate, which will seriously cause bone separation and fracture.
Because the stress on the elbow joint has caused a series of symptoms and diseases, the stress on the elbow joint should also be considered in the diagnosis. Generally, the traditional method of taking X-ray is to let the dog's hand take X-ray at a certain angle to observe the pathological changes of the dog's elbow joint. However, this method can not reflect the stress of dog elbow joint. According to the latest research results, we developed and customized a set of special tools to make the humerus and radius on the same horizontal plane and take X-rays under the stress of the forelimbs. X-rays taken with Baoding tools or special Baoding methods can better reflect the stress of elbow joint and provide better basis for clinical pet doctors. We can also measure the stress angle (about 865438 0.5 degrees in normal dogs) according to the stress on the vertical lines of the medial and lateral condyles and radioulna of the elbow joint. Through stress analysis, the treatment plan is made.
However, because pet medical treatment is a niche industry, these Baoding tools have special requirements in use, which are expensive to sell abroad and difficult to mass-produce in China, so there is no way to meet the needs of the domestic pet industry.
Dog elbow dysplasia
In terms of treatment, veterinarians have also studied it for a long time in clinic, and many orthopedic veterinarians have made a big fuss here. Some veterinarians cut off the humerus and reattached it in order to make the joint stress uniform in a straight line, and achieved certain results.
Dog elbow dysplasia
However, this humerus is a very large bone, and sometimes the force will reach more than 70% of the weight. It is undoubtedly an adventurous behavior to reattach it after interruption. Nevertheless, when I went to Italy for a meeting last year, there was still an orthopedic pet doctor doing the above operation.
Dog elbow dysplasia
Because the above method has a certain effect, in order to avoid the risk of secondary fracture or implant failure caused by the above method, the clever veterinarian has developed another relatively safe method, which can make the stress on the two condyles of the elbow joint uniform. It is to perform external rotation after humeral fracture to make it evenly stressed. This is a good way, but it will make the animal's trampling action more abnormal (as shown above). No matter which of the above two methods is adopted, it is necessary to break the huge bone of humerus, so the above methods have their natural risks. So some veterinarians have developed other methods.
Dog elbow dysplasia
Because people think that the development of radioulna is unbalanced and the ulna growth plate closes prematurely, some clever veterinarians choose to interrupt the ulna during the animal growth period to make it longer. Some veterinarians choose to break the radius and change the direction of the radius, so that the elbow joint is evenly stressed.
Some recent studies in Europe and North America believe that changing the direction of ulnar mechanics will get better results. So Paul technique (proximal abdominal ulnar incision) was developed. Judging from the current research, Paul has achieved good results. Almost all dogs that have undergone Paul's surgery will improve to varying degrees. So like many European orthopedic pet experts, I accepted Paul's surgical certification and became a supporter of Paul.
Of course, using all the above surgical schemes only corrects the stress direction of the joint and makes the elbow joint more balanced when walking. But for arthritis or cartilage diseases that have already appeared, even surgery can't change it. However, after the operation, the amount and dosage of painkillers used by dogs were greatly reduced, and the walking limp was reduced, thus obtaining a better quality of life.
So looking back, the dog's elbow joint on the left will be healthier from the stress on the elbow joint. If a dog sits like a lady, it is still not suitable for strenuous exercise.
? About the author: Wu Zhongheng, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, member of the International Veterinary Orthopedic Association, whose main research direction is imaging diagnosis of small animals. ?