Hip dysplasia in dogs: control and prevention
Abstract
Hip dysplasia (HD) is an orthopaedic pathology with high prevalence in dogs, especially in large and giant breeds. It has a polygenic origin and is influenced by several factors such as age, sex, nutrition, metabolism, physical activity and hormones.
Animals affected with this disease are born with normal joints but as they develop, joint changes appear. These changes may be expressed by lameness, gait abnormalities, hip instability and pain in full extension of the joint.
To reduce the HD prevalence, selective breeding programmes have been implemented in which only animals free of disease or with minimal articular changes can reproduce. As these programmes do not always have the desired success, early radiographs should be performed in susceptible animals, in order to slow the progression of changes.
The aim of this review is to summarize canine HD control and prevention aspects, with reference to the factors that predispose to disease, and the various treatment options. The role played by the veterinary nurse in advising the HD dog owners on disease management and also on how to avoid the risk factors in order to reduce the number of affected animals, is also discussed.
Hip dysplasia (HD) is a polygenically inherited developmental abnormality that is associated with hip instability and osteoarthritis (OA) (LaFond et al, 2002;Janutta et al, 2006). This affects bone growth and remodelling, resulting in abnormal friction between both joint surfaces and, subsequently, joint deformity and degenerative joint disease (DJD) (Lohi and Nicholas, 2009). Radiographically, a dysplastic animal has a shallow acetabulum and the femoral head fits poorly into it (Kealy and McAllister, 2000).
Both the prevalence and clinical significance of HD vary widely among breeds (Wang et al, 1999;Todhunter et al, 2003), mainly affecting giant and large breed dogs, such as German Shepherds, Labrador Retrievers and Rottweilers (Kealy and McAllister, 2000;LaFond et al, 2002). Greyhounds are rarely affected suggesting that selection in these breeds, which has resulted in good musculoskeletal development, has favourably altered their susceptibility to HD (Mäki et al, 2000).
Register now to continue reading
Thank you for visiting The Veterinary Nurse and reading some of our peer-reviewed content for veterinary professionals. To continue reading this article, please register today.