Every year thousands of dogs are hobbled by a painful condition called hip dysplasia, a degenerative disease of the hip in which the ball and socket joints no longer fit tightly. This disabling ailment usually strikes large breeds, like Labrador retrievers, German shepherds and Saint Bernards.
Dr. Kyle Mathews, assistant professor of small animal surgery at North Carolina State University's College of Veterinary Medicine, is among a team of veterinarians who have developed a new method of preventing hip dysplasia. The procedure they're developing, called Juvenile Pubic Symphysidesis (JPS), is less invasive than other treatments and shows great promise as a permanent preventive measure.
JPS involves heating an area near the center of the pelvis to kill cells responsible for pelvic development. By altering these "growth plates," veterinarians can force the bones of the pelvis to grow at different rates. That makes the pelvis grow at an angle that provides a better fit for the hip. When mature, the hip socket has rotated to a more horizontal angle, thus making it less likely the ball on the end of the femur will pop out. The socket of a loose-fitting hip will eventually wear down to look like a saucer, causing great pain for the animal.
Mathews is working on JPS in collaboration with Dr. R. Tass Dueland at the University of Wisconsin.
The procedure must be performed when dogs are between 16-20 weeks of age, with maximum benefit gained when the dog is 16 weeks old. After that, the benefits decrease with each successive week until the puppy is 20 weeks old. At that point the pelvis is probably too developed for a JPS to have any effect on growth.
The best time to perform a JPS, Mathews says, is when the dog is being spayed or neutered. The animal only needs to be anesthesized once, and both surgical procedures are in the same area of the body. The incision for the JPS is about 3-4 inches long. So far there appear to be no side
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Contact: Greg Thomas, NC State University News Services
greg_thomas@ncsu.edu
919-515-3470
North Carolina State University
21-Aug-2000