Surgical Decompression in Dogs with Thoracolumbar Intervertebral Disc Disease and Loss of Deep Pain Perception: A Retrospective Study of 46 Cases

The case details and outcome after surgical decompression of 46 dogs with thoracolumbar intervertebral disc disease with loss of deep pain perception prior to surgery were reviewed. Nineteen dogs (41.3%) recovered with a median follow-up period of 12.5 months. Recovery was defined as an ambulatory paraparesis, or better, with urinary and fecal continence. There was a better outcome in dogs with loss of deep pain for less than 24 hours prior to surgery (19/41; 46.3% recovered) than in dogs without deep pain perception for more than 24 hours (0/5; 0% recovered). Dogs with deep pain perception present at two weeks postoperatively had significantly higher success rate (8/12; 66.7% recovered) than dogs without deep pain perception at this time period (1/10; 10.0% recovered). The return of deep pain perception by two weeks postoperatively can be a useful positive prognostic indicator.