Vet360 Vol 4 Issue 4 August 2017 Vet 360

Article sponsored by Petcam ® SURGERY Article reprinted with the permission of DMV360 - April, 19 2017 DVM360 MAGAZINE is a copyrighted publication of Advanstar. Communications inc. All rights reserved. Conservative Management of Intervertebral Disc Disease By Sarah J. Wooten, DVM While CVC expert and educator Theresa Pancotto, DVM, MS, DACVIM (Neurology), CCRP, thinks interver- tebral disc disease (IVDD) is a primarily a surgical dis- ease in most cases, sometimes—as we all know—the money just isn’t there. Fortunately, grades 1 and 2 IVDD can be treated suc- cessfully with conservative management. Read on for how to formulate a winning game plan. Even though grades 1 and 2 IVDD respond favourably to medical management, Dr. Pancotto thinks those cases are still ultimately surgical candidates, and the earlier that pet is treated, the better the prognosis. Be sure to counsel owners on the option of surgery even for cases with comparably mild signs since even am- bulatory dogs can have extruded disc material that will never resolve and cause chronic discomfort that goes unrecognised by owners. This is particularly true for dogs with cervical IVDD. Choose your patients wisely When it comes to conservative management, the location, severity and duration of IVDD all influence whether or not treatment will be successful. Dogs with cervical disease do not respond as well to con- servative therapy as do dogs with injury in the T3-L3 area, Dr. Pancotto says. Grades 1 and 2 IVDD on the modified Frankel scale are the best candidates for medical therapy. So first, let’s get everyone on the same page 1 : Grade 1: Pain only, no proprioceptive deficits Grade 2: Ambulatory with or without pain, ataxia, proprioceptive deficits Grade 3: Faecal and urinary incontinence, non-ambulatory tetra/paraparesis Grade 4: Tetra/paraplegia, incontinence Grade 5: Loss of deep pain Chondrodystrophic dogs are the most coomon pa- tients presented for grade 1 IVDD, especially dachs- vet360 Issue 04 | AUGUST 2017 | 22

Vet360 Vol 4 Issue 4 August 2017 Vet 360 | Page 22