fourleg.com

I am hoping that someone may be able to give some insight on this case! "Buttercup" is a 4 year old spayed female basset hound who was recently adopted by a wonderful owner who only knows that she was involved in some type of accident several years prior to her adoption. Radiographs show healed fractures of the pubis and ischium and possibly a healed fracture of the tibial crest- all on the right side. She has several healed scars on the right thigh that are not adhered to underlying musculature but the muscles underneath feel tight and knotted and "not right" as if there is a large amount of scar tissue. She is unable to draw her right rear leg forward in the swing phase of her gait. ( I emailed a video to Laurie recently).

I initially assumed that this was just due to chronic muscle contracture from the initial injury but after watching her gait for a bit I am wondering if the sciatic nerve could be coming into play here? If it is, how can I tell? She also seems a bit sensitive for palpation over the right ischial tuberosity, but many dogs are a little guarded there.

She is a very active little dog and seems to compensate quite well, but her mom is concerned that she is predisposed to future injury and I can not disagree, but I am not sure what I can do for her. I applied the therapy laser to the scarred areas today and then tried some gentle massage and stretching. No change in gait but she loves the attention!

Any help in further diagnostics or treatment here would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you!
Katherine Haldeman, DVM CCRT

Hi Katherine,

I'll have to search for the video. But just from the description, the forward swing would be more from a femoral nerve issue or iliopsoas damage - both of which could be possible with the location of the other old traumas in the pelvis...

Laurie

Hi again Katherine!

Now that I've watched the video and read your question to me in my e-mail, I change my answer to "looks like a fibrotic myopathy". So, with the though that it could be 'traumatic', you MIGHT be able to make an impact with aggressive stretching... but maybe not! (I have to see if I can upload a video!)

Given your description, I'd say that the dog looks pretty darn good for all of the trauma. Perhaps not a neurologic case at all. (I'm supposed to have the ability to move things - ie move this to the Orthopaedic forum...!)

So all in all, I'd say, check pelvis, L/S, T/S etc, look for muscle pain, but if there is nothing else that hurts, then don't worry about the fibrotic myopathy!

Thanks for posting the case!

Cheers,

Laurie
PS Just learned how to move a topic! Yah me!

So I uploaded the video to YouTube...
https://youtu.be/9ziPvJ0jS4Y

And maybe I'll try to upload it here:

Nope... can't figure it out! Please click the YouTube link!