Head and spinal cord trauma in dogs usually follows a road accident, a fall, a bite or a gunshot. The first impact does damage that cannot be undone; the job of the clinician is to stop the swelling, ischemia and pressure that follow from adding to it, and to give owners an honest prognosis based on a few examination findings.
Key facts
Traumatic injury (brain or spinal cord) at a glance- Species and system: dog; nervous system (brain, spinal cord, vertebral column).
- Cause: blunt or penetrating trauma. Vehicular trauma made up 91.1% of severe blunt trauma in one ICU series (Simpson 2009); bites and gunshots also cause vertebral fractures (Merck).
- Brain injury, classic picture: altered mentation, abnormal pupils and posture after trauma, monitored with the modified Glasgow Coma Scale (MGCS).
- Spinal injury, classic picture: acute paresis or paralysis with spinal pain; severe thoracolumbar lesions can produce Schiff-Sherrington posture.
- Single most useful prognostic sign for the cord: deep pain perception caudal to the lesion.
- Not zoonotic and not reportable.
What's inside
11 sections in the full guide- Key facts
- How the NAVLE tests this
- Cause and pathophysiology
- Clinical signs
- Diagnosis
- Differential diagnoses
- Treatment and management
- Prognosis
- Quick review
- Test yourself
- References
The full guide also has 6 tables, 3 figures, 3 self-test questions and 22 references, available to NAVLE members.
Read the full study guide
The full guide is part of every NAVLE plan, with diagnosis and treatment tables, figures, a quick review and self-test questions. Start a free trial to try the question bank, or log in if you are already a member.