Dorsal laminectomy for the treatment of lateralised cervical intervertebral disc extrusions in dogs—Prognosis and complications

Abstract

ObjectiveDescribe the complication rate, expected hospitalization time and prognosis associated with dorsal laminectomy for the treatment of lateralised cervical intervertebral disc extrusion (IVDE) in dogs.MethodsThis is a single-center retrospective case series study. Databases were reviewed from 2012 to 2022 for dogs that had a dorsal laminectomy to treat a lateralised cervical IVDE. Dogs were excluded if additional surgical techniques were performed, or other comorbidities were found on MRI.ResultsFifty two dogs were included the study. French bulldogs represented 28.8% of the cohort. Patient median age was 6 years and median weight 15 kg. Thirty-five dogs (67.3%) presented clinical signs for <3 days and almost half (44.2%) were ambulatory but presented cervical pain and neurological deficits. Median surgical time was 85 min. Minor intraoperative complications were reported in 22 (42.3%), with hypothermia being the most common. Thirteen (25%) needed revision surgery due to persistent cervical pain with (9/13) or without (4/13) neurological deficits. Re-extrusion or persistent extrusion was found in 92.3% of cases needing surgical revision. Median hospitalization time was 6 days. Forty-seven (90.4%) cases had a good outcome.Conclusions and clinical significanceDespite the relatively high rate of intraoperative complications and cases needing revision surgery, dorsal laminectomy as surgical treatment for lateralised cervical IVDE is still associated with good long-term prognosis in most of cases. Prognosis is good even when revision surgery is necessary but expected hospitalization time seems to be higher when compared to an alternative surgical technique.