Clinical Occurrences in the Neurorehabilitation of Dogs with Severe Spinal Cord Injury

• Published in: Animals (Basel) Vol. 13; no. 7; p. 1164
• Main Authors: Gouveia, Débora, Fonseca, Sara, Carvalho, Carla, Cardoso, Ana, Almeida, António, Gamboa, Óscar, Canejo-Teixeira, Rute, Ferreira, António, Martins, Ângela
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 25.03.2023; MDPI
• Subjects: Age; Bedsores; Cartilage; clinical occurrences; deep pain; Diarrhea; Dogs; Etiology; Evaluation; Exercise; Fecal incontinence; Feces; functional neurorehabilitation; Health aspects; Localization; Medical research; Medicine, Experimental; Monitoring; Neurology; Observational studies; Pain; Pain perception; Palliative care; Paralysis; Paraplegics; plegia; Pneumonia; Population studies; Pressure ulcers; Quality of life; Rehabilitation; Respiratory function; SCI; Sensation; Spinal cord injuries; Thorax; Ulcers; Urinary incontinence; Urinary tract; Urinary tract infections; Variables; Veterinary medicine; France; Portugal; United States > US; SCI; dogs; clinical occurrences; plegia; deep pain; functional neurorehabilitation
• ISSN: 2076-2615; 2076-2615
• DOI: 10.3390/ani13071164

This prospective observational clinical study in a population of tetraplegic and paraplegic dogs ( = 488) with or without deep pain sensation, similar to humans ASIA A and B, investigated the prevalence of clinical occurrences in a rehabilitation center with a hospitalization regime between 15 days and 9 months. A checklist of occurrences was used for easy identification and monitoring, resulting in a total of 79.5% occurrences. There were 58% of dogs with neurogenic bladder, 35.5% with diarrhea, 21.3% with urinary incontinence, and 20.5% with fecal incontinence. A low incidence of respiratory problems (e.g., pneumonia) and urinary tract infections may suggest the efficacy of some applied measures in this study, such as thoracic and abdominal POCUS evaluation, positioning strategies, physical exercises, respiratory kinesiotherapy, and early implementation of a functional neurorehabilitation protocol. These can be essential measures to prevent clinical occurrences, mainly in breeds such as the French Bulldog and the Dachshund.