Small Animal Referral Hospital Surgical Decompression

The clinical signs of a disc extrusion can vary from pain to paralysis. More severely affected dogs that are unable to walk or use their back legs benefit from surgical decompression of the spinal cord. The main aim of surgery is to remove the compression on the spinal cord and prevent further discs from herniating using a procedure called fenestration. The chance of recovery depends how badly affected dogs are and we feel that dogs that cannot walk benefit from surgery.

Around 10% of dogs that present with no feeling in both back legs can unfortunately deteriorate further, going on to develop myelomalacia. This is an irreversible softening of the spinal cord that ascends the spinal cord and can start to affect the front legs and the muscles used for breathing. If we are concerned that there are signs of this developing, we would discuss this further with you.

• Trauma to the spinal cord itself or the nerves that arise from the spinal cord
• Risk of entering the chest cavity when approaching the spine overlying the chest region which can create too much air around the lungs called a pneumothorax
• Increased risk of bleeding due to the nature of the vessels within the spinal canal as a mesh or ‘network’ of vessels rather than tubes

Following surgery, your dog will be settled into our dedicated neurology ward and monitored to assess their level of comfort, ability to urinate for themselves and for any deterioration post-surgery.
Based on the recommendations made by your clinician, your dog will be assessed by our specialist team of chartered physiotherapists and they will design and implement a physiotherapy and rehabilitation.

This can vary and mainly depends on the level of nursing care required for your pet, such as bladder management and whether you feel confident at continuing this management at home. Generally, dogs tend to stay in the hospital until they can urinate independently. Upon discharge, you will have the opportunity to have an appointment with one of our veterinary physiotherapists whereby you will be shown how to perform the necessary physiotherapy techniques and exercises to ensure your dog continues to make progress at home.

The aftercare generally involves 4 weeks of strict rest and physiotherapy, where recommended. This may also include daily bladder expressions if required in dogs that are unable to urinate consciously by themselves. Bladder expression is not technically difficult, and our team of nurses will be able to teach you how to do this. Dogs with spinal cord injuries can also be prone to developing urine infections and therefore we would ask for you to monitor the colour and smell of your dog’s urine.

The prognosis for dogs that are able to feel their back legs is good to excellent. Some dogs may be left with retained deficits in 10-15% of cases; however these are usually mild and do not affect their quality of life. The prognosis for dogs that are unable to feel their back legs is 50-60% success rate for return to recovery. The majority of dogs that recover the feeling in their legs do so in the 3-4 weeks post-surgery, some dogs may take longer to recover, however some dogs unfortunately do not regain feeling and remain permanently paralysed. Some dogs that remain permanently paralysed are suitable for mobility carts and can still have a good quality of life.