Hypertrophic osteopathy associated with a bronchial foreign body (grass awn) in a dog: a case report

A five-year-old dog was referred with a five-month history of lethargy, decreased appetite, cough and intermittent forelimb lameness. Radiographs revealed an intra-thoracic lesion and a marked periosteal bone apposition of the second digit on the left forelimb. As it was palisading and circumferential, the latter appeared typical of hypertrophic osteopathy (HO). A grass awn in a sub-lobar ramification of the right caudal bronchus was identified and removed by bronchoscopy. At three months follow-up, the digit appeared clinically normal. On radiographs the periosteal bone reaction had decreased, indicative of resolving hypertrophic osteopathy. Thoracic radiographs showed no abnormalities five months after foreign body removal and the bone lesion on the digit had disappeared. Successful treatment of the pulmonary foreign body abscess led to spontaneous regression of HO and eventually to complete resolution of clinical signs. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first reported case of HO secondary to a bronchial-pulmonary grass an abscess

Anesthetic Management during Cesarean Section in English Bulldogs

The authors describe their experience with the management of the perioperative period, general anesthesia and the postoperative period in English bulldogs undergoing elective cesarean section and its effect on the neonates. The anesthetist for animals undergoing cesarean operation must be aware of any special needs, not only of the patient undergoing surgery, but also of the neonates. Anesthetic drugs administered to the pregnant patient will readily cross the placenta and affect them, with the exception of local anesthetics. Pregnant female patients are at increased anesthetic risk due to pregnancy-associated physiological alterations, such as altered pulmonary function. The anesthetist is often called to perform anesthesia on brachycephalic dogs for an elective cesarean section. Due to their conformation, these animals may have one or more anatomical abnormalities of the upper airways, which compromise the ability to ventilate adequately. The induction and recovery phases of anesthesia can be extremely dangerous in these patients, but the maintenance phase is generally fairly straightforward because the airways are controlled during maintenance. In addition, vagal tone is frequently high and this can contribute towards significant bradycardia and further airway narrowing. All these reasons make general anesthesia in brachycephalic dogs undergoing cesarean section rather complicated

Comparison of the Transdermal and Intravenous Administration of Buprenorphine in the Management of Intra- and Postoperative Pain in Dogs Undergoing a Unilateral Mastectomy

The aim of this prospective clinical study was to evaluate the effectiveness of transdermal patches of buprenorphine as an alternative route for the management of perioperative pain in dogs undergoing a unilateral mastectomy. Our hypothesis was that the transdermal route would allow the obtainment of an analgesic plan comparable to that of the injectable administration. Twelve dogs were divided in two groups. In the BupreP group (six dogs), buprenorphine patches were applied 40 h before the start of the surgery, guaranteeing a dosage of 5-6 μg/kg/h. In the BupreI group (six dogs), 20 μg/kg of buprenorphine was administered intravenously 30 min before the induction of anesthesia, and this was repeated every 6 h for 24 h. The main physiological parameters, sedation scores (0 = no sedation; 11 = deep sedation), and pain scores were monitored from 30 min before the surgery to 24 h after the end of anesthesia. All p values < 0.05 were defined as statistically significant. Thirty minutes before the surgery, the sedation scores were higher in BupreI (score = 10) compared to the BupreP group (score = 1). Moreover, during the mastectomy, the mean arterial pressure significantly increased in both groups even if nobody required additional analgesia. In the postoperative period, the pain scores did not show statistically significant differences between the two groups, maintaining values below the pain threshold at all times of the study. In conclusion, the transdermal administration of buprenorphine could guarantee an analgesic quality equal to that of the injectable route

EFFECT OF PELVIC POSITIONING AND TORSIONAL DEFORMITY ON CANINE ACETABULAR MORPHOLOGY WITH COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY: A PHANTOM STUDY

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Use of Nanohydroxyapatite in Regenerative Therapy in Dogs Affected by Periodontopathy: Preliminary Results

Background: The present study aims to analyse the in vivo behaviour of nanohydroxyapatite and to assess its regenerative capacity in dogs affected by periodontal disease. Methods and findings: The dogs employed in the study were randomly subdivided into a control group and an experimental group. After clinical, instrumental and radiological examinations, all the subjects underwent dental prophylaxis and a bioptic sample was taken. A histopathological examination of the periodontal tissues, in correspondence to teeth with periodontopathy ranging between stages 2 and 3, followed. Regenerative therapy with applications of nanohydroxyapatite was administered only to the dogs of the experimental group. After a period of between 35 and 40 days, a further clinical, instrumental and radiological examination was carried out and a bioptic sample taken solely on the dogs whose histological examinations showed changes ascribable to periodontal disease. The results of the histopathological examination demonstrated that only the dogs in the experimental group, who underwent dental prophylaxis together with the administration of nanohydroxyapatite, showed clear signs of improvement with respect to their initial condition. Conclusions: In conclusion the study demonstrated that the nanohydroxyapatite represents a valid osteoconductive and osteoinductive graft product and confirmed its regenerative potential in periodontal therapy in dogs

Use of Nanohydroxyapatite in regenerative therapy in dogs affected by periodontopathy: preliminary results

Nanosized ceramics may represent a promising class of bone graft substitutes due to their improved osseointegrative and osseoinductive properties. Nanohydroxyapatite binds itself to the bone and favours bone healing by stimulation of osteoblast activity (Singh et al., 2012). The present study aims to analyse the in vivo behaviour of nanohydroxyapatite and to assess its regenerative capacity in dogs affected by periodontal disease. Twenty-eight dogs of different breeds, aged between 5 and 15 years, were employed in the study and were randomly subdivided into a control group and an experimental group. After clinical, instrumental and radiological examinations to estimate the severity of the disease, all the subjects underwent dental prophylaxis and a bioptic sample was taken. A histopathological examination of the periodontal tissues, in correspondence with teeth with periodontopathy ranging between grades II and III, followed. Regenerative therapy with applications of nanohydroxyapatite was administered only to the dogs of the experimental group. After a period of between 30 and 42 days, a further clinical, instrumental and radiological examination was carried out and a bioptic sample taken solely on the dogs whose histological examinations showed changes ascribable to periodontal disease. The results of the histopathological examination demonstrated that the subjects belonging to the control group, who only underwent the dental prophylaxis, in no case showed any histopathological improvement. In 6 out of 14 cases, the situation remained stationary and in the remaining 8 there was a clear deterioration. On the contrary, all the dogs in the experimental group, who underwent dental prophylaxis together with the administration of nanohydroxyapatite, showed clear signs of improvement with respect to their initial condition. Furthermore, there was no sign of any inflammatory reaction in the areas which had been treated with nanohydroxyapatite. In conclusion the study demonstrated the regenerative potential of nanohydroxyapatite in periodontal therapy. In fact, its use as a graft material has produced very satisfactory results, which have been supported without doubt by the histopathological examinations. Thus, nanohydroxyapatite represents a valid osteoconductive and osteoinductive graft product in dogs. However, more research is needed and it is, therefore, imperative to extend the case histories and further standardize diagnostic methods. Singh VP, Nayak DG, Uppoor AS, Shah D: Clinical and radiographic evaluation of Nano-crystalline hydroxyapatite bone graft (Sybograf) in combination with bioresorbable collagen membrane (Periocol) in periodontal intrabony defects. Dental Research Journal, 2012; 9: 60-67