Colocefalectomia em pequenos animais: estudo retrospectivo de 129 casos clínico-cirúrgicos

Abstract

Dogs and cats are species frequently affected by injuries to the hip joint, the main ones being hip dislocation, femoral head and neck fractures, acetabular fractures, hip dysplasia and femoral head aseptic necrosis. There are conservative therapies for these disorders; however, the surgical approach is the most appropriate correction method. Several options for surgical interventions are available for each condition, although colocephalectomy is the most used in routine because of its low cost and simplicity when compared to other techniques. However, there are reports of complications such as continuous lameness, limb shortening, exercise intolerance, ischial neuropraxia, patellar dislocation and limited hip range motion with severe muscle atrophy. Therefore, the present study aimed to check the efficacy and complications of colocephalectomy technique, by means of retrospective study of 129 dogs submitted to this technique at the Veterinary Hospital of the Federal University of Uberlândia, from July 2012 to December 2018. Data about species, breed, body weight, sex, age, limb submitted to intervention, surgical indication, type of intervention performed (colocephalectomy isolated or associated with another orthopedic technique), postoperative complications, pain, return to function, claudication’s degree and owner’s satisfaction were submitted to descriptive and percentage analysis. Contingency test and chi-square test were performed with significance p<0,05. Dogs over 30 kg had good functional results after colocephalectomy; the young showed a faster recovery, because they hobbled for less time; however, age had no influence on the beginning of limb support; dogs that underwent surgery due to degenerative joint diseases had better functional outcome than those from trauma, however, the surgical indication had no influence on the beginning of limb support; colocephalectomy associated with another orthopedic procedure showed a worse functional outcome when compared to the isolated technique. It is concluded that colocephalectomy is a low-cost, easy-to-perform and effective technique for the treatment of traumatic and degenerative hip disorders, with good to excellent postoperative results, providing better quality of life for the animals and satisfaction for the tutors.