Research article

Quantification of deficits in lateral paw positioning after spinal cord injury in dogs

Lindsay Hamilton¹ , Robin JM Franklin^1,2 and Nicholas D Jeffery^1,2

¹  Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0ES, UK

²  Cambridge Centre for Brain Repair, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0ES, UK

author email corresponding author email

BMC Veterinary Research 2008, 4:47doi:10.1186/1746-6148-4-47

Published:	25 November 2008

Abstract

Background

Previous analysis of the behavioural effects of spinal cord injury has focussed on coordination in the sagittal plane of movement between joints, limb girdle pairs or thoracic and pelvic limb pairs. In this study we extend the functional analysis of the consequences of clinical thoracolumbar spinal cord injury in dogs to quantify the well-recognised deficits in lateral stability during locomotion. Dogs have a high centre of mass thereby facilitating recognition of lateral instability.

Results

We confirm that errors in lateral positioning of the pelvic limb paws can be quantified and that there is a highly significant difference in variability of foot placement between normal and spinal cord injured dogs. In this study there was no detectable difference in lateral paw positioning variability between complete and incomplete injuries, but it appears that intergirdle limb coordination and appropriate lateral paw placement recover independently from one another.

Conclusion

Analysis of lateral paw position in the dog provides an additional tier of analysis of outcome after spinal cord injury that will be of great value in interpreting the effects of putative therapeutic interventions.