PETS AND HIP DYSPLASIA

PETS AND HIP DYSPLASIA: "PETS AND HIP DYSPLASIA

Hip dysplasia, most people will have heard the term heard the term, but do you know what it means?

Hip dysplasia is a progressive degenerative condition of the pelvic joint that can lead to severe lameness and pain in large breed dogs. It can be very debilitating, but with the help of several ingenious surgical techniques, the function of the leg can be restored, in some cases to almost normal capacity.

Hip dysplasia occurs when the head of the femur (the upper bone in the hind leg) does not fit into the socket, or acetabulum, of the joint properly. Patients that develop this condition are often first seen for the problem when they are fairly young.

Severe pain can be present in a young dog when the head of the femur pulls away from the joint and rides on the rim of the acetabulum during movement (called subluxation). It can put stress on the joint and tear the joint capsule. The pain often goes away on its own as the joint stabilizes, but problems with the conformation or shape of the joint can remain, causing problems later in your dogs life.

The changes seen in older animals with hip dysplasia are caused by osteoarthritis (also called degenerative joint disease) and are the result of degeneration of cartilage accompanied by bone formation and fibrosis around the joint. Both the acetabulum and the head of the femur change in shape until they no longer form a stable joint, causing lameness and pain.

If the problem is noticed early enough (when the head of the femur and the acetabulum are still mostly intact), then hip dysplasia can sometimes be corrected by a procedure called a triple pelvic osteotomy, in which the pelvis is actually cut into three pieces and repositioned so that the head of the femur fits more snuggly into the acetabulum. Thi"
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Originally Posted on 23/07/2005 3:48:44 PMContent source: http://cats-dogs.blogspot.com/2005/02/pets-and-hip-dysplasia.html