• R B Song, D M Basso, R C da Costa, L C Fisher, X Mo, and S A Moore.
• Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, The Ohio State University, 601 Vernon TharP St., Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
• Vet. J. 2016 Mar 1; 209: 144-9.

AbstractSensory threshold (ST) was measured using an electric von Frey anesthesiometer (VFA) in all limbs of 20 normal dogs and 29 dogs with acute thoracolumbar spinal cord injury (SCI) caused by spontaneous intervertebral disc extrusion. ST values were measured at three separate time points in normal dogs and on days 3, 10 and 30 following decompressive surgery in dogs with SCI. ST values were compared between groups and correlated with locomotor recovery in SCI-affected dogs. ST values were significantly higher (consistent with hypoalgesia) in the pelvic limbs of SCI-affected dogs at day 3, day 10 and day 30 when compared to normal dogs (P <0.05), while no significant difference in thoracic limb ST values was observed between groups. A progressive decrease in pelvic limb ST values occurred in SCI-affected dogs over time, consistent with improvement toward normal sensation or development of allodynia. This finding correlated inversely with locomotor score at 3 and 10 days after surgery. A significant decline in ST values across testing sessions was observed for all limbs of normal and SCI-affected dogs and may be related to patient acclimation, operator training effect, or effect of analgesic medications. This study supports the feasibility of VFA to assess differences in ST between normal and SCI-affected dogs. However, future studies must focus on techniques to minimize or compensate for clinical, environmental and behavioral factors which may impact ST values in the clinical setting. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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