Management of spinal trauma in 69 cats

This study sought to evaluate a series of clinical and radiological findings on spinal trauma in cats and the outcome that emerged from conservative or surgical treatment using 2 types of spinal stapling: stabilization using a Steinmann pin and coated polypropylene. Case records were reviewed for their diagnostic approaches on the basis of physical and neurological conditions, and concurrent disorders in addition to spinal trauma. Radiological examinations of the vertebral column were carried out using survey radiography, myelography and epidurography. All cases were classified according to etiopathogenesis of the disease. Surgical treatment consisted of decompression (laminectomy, hemilaminectomy and durotomy), or decompression with stabilization which was performed by one of two methods. The first one was the employment of translaminar stapling at the base of a spinous process and the other involved spinal stapling at the spinous process. The spinal lesions were identified as cervical (n = 2), thoracic (n = 35), lumbar (n = 22), sacral and caudal (n = 10). While 19 out of 30 conservatively managed cases recovered, the rest had persistent residual paresis and ataxia. Complete recovery was seen in 4 cats that underwent hemilaminectomy and 3 subjected to laminectomy. Partial recovery was observed in 5 cases involving laminectomy; however, there was no improvement observed in another 2 cases. Each animal was followed for at least a 3-month period to evaluate the clinical assessment of the results following treatment. The results of conservative and operative management of spinal trauma indicated that the type and degree of spinal cord degradation strongly influenced any prognosis. The results emerging from decompressive procedures seemed satisfactory for those cases where instability was not an issue. Both stabilization techniques were not ideal in terms of their methodological versatility or regarding weaknesses of bone structure observed in intra- and postoperative periods. However, translaminar stapling at the base of a spinous process was deemed to be the superior technique.