CASE STUDY: Retrievers Muscle Trauma (Hock Region): A few days ago we had the opportunity to help an energetic one year old Chesapeake Bay Retriever by locating the elusive cause of his painful intermittent lameness. This amazing breed is know for its happy disposition, high energy and vitality, willingness to work, alertness, love of water, etc. They are prone mostly to hip dysplasia and progressive retinal atrophy. According to the owners, after a normal day filled with play about 3 weeks ago, this handsome young male started to limp on his hind right leg with increasing severity. There were no visible signs of injury and gentle palpation of the hind legs did not elicit a pain reaction that could in turn provide a clue to the issue... After the vets close examination, limited exercise and icing of the foot was recommended for a week. Unfortunately, after the week passed, there was still no improvement. Moreover, the dog started snarling when being approached to be looked at closely or attended to. In order to get to the bottom of the problem, the owners decided to use veterinary thermal imaging (thermography). Thermography is the ideal modality for this case because it is capable of accurately pinpointing musculoskeletal, neurological and / or vascular issues early on, without sedation and on a non-invasive basis. Upon reviewing the thermal scans, our interpreting specialist veterinary doctor commented on the following two significant findings. The hyperthermic asymmetry of the medial distal gastrocnemius pointed toward a muscular damage that correlated with the history of right hind lameness. Moreover, a focal inflammation of the soft tissue in the area of the left hock indicated yet another trauma this retriever sustained during hard play. Ultimately, our thermography interpretation report was presented to the primary vet to finalize the clinical assessment of the potential bilateral lameness as well as the to determine the new treatment protocol. More at: animalinfraredimging
Posted on: Tue, 30 Dec 2014 23:29:07 +0000
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