Duration and severity of clinical signs as prognostic indicators in 30 dogs with thoracolumbar disk disease after surgical decompression.

Summary The objective of this study was to evaluate the duration and severity of neurological dysfunction as prognostic indicators for the final outcome in 30 dogs with thoracolumbar intervertebral disk disease, treated surgically with hemilaminectomy without concurrent prophylactic fenestration. The lesion localization was assessed comparing plain radiographic, myelographic and surgical findings and success rates were evaluated during case follow-up. Evidence of a single disk extrusion existed in 17 dogs on survey spinal radiographs, while myelography revealed definite spinal cord compression in 28 cases and was inconclusive in the remaining two cases. Case follow-up continued for a period ranging from 3 months to 2 years post-operatively, depending on the degree of neurological dysfunction on presentation and owner compliance. The severity of clinical signs and the interval elapsing prior to decompressive surgery did not correlate with the case outcome, with 12 of 20 dogs (60%) that exhibited the most pronounced neurological dysfunction (paraplegia with or without analgesia) regaining voluntary motor function during the follow-up period. Recurrences proven to be disk-related did not occur in any dog throughout the post-surgical observation period. It was concluded that the time elapsing from loss of motor function and the severity of clinical signs is not an objective method to predict the case outcome.