What Is a Canine Athlete?

Cranial Cruciate Ligament Rupture in Dogs: Review on Biomechanics, Etiopathogenetic Factors and Rehabilitation

“…The most recent biomechanical models, on the other hand, show the existence of forces responsible for constant stress on the cruciate ligament, which can result in further weakening and rupture (partial or total). Tepic's theory justifies that breeds with a greater predisposition to this injury are breeds with hyperextended pelvic limbs, such as the Boxer and Chow Chow, which results in greater stress on the ligament, which is also determined by the increased functional inclination of the tibial plateau [36,37]. Recent studies on gait analysis (kinetic and kinematics) have also allowed the development of current osteotomy techniques, which have the specific aim to neutralize the cranial tibial thrust and to restore the balance of forces that act on the stifle joint [22,23,25,33].…”

“…The main dog breeds affected by this injury are Labrador, Newfoundland, Rottweiler, Neapolitan Mastiff, Saint Bernard, Chesapeake Bay Retriever, American Staffordshire Terrier, Akita, Boxer, and Bulldog [2,3,9,24,25,59,84,85]. In these breeds, it is also possible to observe anomalies that can contribute to cruciate ligament weakening and rupture, such as, for example, the hyperextended position of the pelvic limbs with highly open joint angles [37,86], which occurs frequently in breeds such as the Chow Chow, Rottweiler, American Staffordshire Terrier, Boxer, and Saint Bernard. Hyperextended pelvic limbs are often associated with hip dysplasia, which is recorded in a high percentage of dogs with CrCL rupture [2,9].…”

CT and gross pathology are comparable methods for detecting some degenerative sacroiliac joint lesions in dogs

“…Pain on palpation of the sacroiliac joint can be subjective as pain tolerance is highly variable in dogs, especially canine athletes. 7,8 In addition, determining whether pain is arising from the sacroiliac joint or lumbosacral spine can be Portions of this study were published as an abstract and presented as a poster at the 2014 Annual Scientific Meeting of the American College of Veterinary Radiology, St. Louis, Missouri. difficult as these structures are immediately adjacent to each other.…”

“…Current standard diagnostic tests for this disease in dogs include history, clinical evidence of pain on palpation of the sacroiliac joint, kinematic tests, radiography, and postmortem examination. Pain on palpation of the sacroiliac joint can be subjective as pain tolerance is highly variable in dogs, especially canine athletes . In addition, determining whether pain is arising from the sacroiliac joint or lumbosacral spine can be difficult as these structures are immediately adjacent to each other .…”

“…session into a spreadsheet (Microsoft Excel for Mac 2011, version 14.0.0, Redmond, WA, MacBook Pro 2.4 GHz Intel Core i7, AppleInc., Cupertino, CA). Values for each of the following variables were entered: dog number(1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15), method (CT, gross pathology), reading session(1)(2)(3)(4), sacroiliac joint side (right, left), and presence/absence for each lesion type in that joint (present = 1, absent = 0). Any additional reader comments were also entered into the spreadsheet.Frequency and percentage values for each lesion and each method F I G U R E 3 Transverse, bone window CT image (A) and gross pathology slice photograph (B) illustrating subchondral sclerosis lesion detection by both methods.…”