Efficacy of Serial Ultrasonographic Examinations in Predicting Return to Play in Agility Dogs with Shoulder Lameness

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Agility dog is one of the most popular canine sports among pet owners, and agility-related soft tissue injuries are becoming frequent in dogs. The need to check the progression of shoulder tendon healing in order to permit a safe return to sport is now urgent. The aim of the present study was to help veterinary sports medicine professionals check the progression of shoulder tendon healing in lesions that have been treated with a standardised physiotherapeutic program. The results showed that ultrasonographic examination could be considered a reliable method of following the progression of healing of shoulder tendon lesions when carried out every two months within the six months after injury, together with the administration of a standardised physiotherapeutic program. The ultrasonographic protocol should be associated with a clinical evaluation in order to give the correct return to play time to the owners. ABSTRACT: The aim of this study is to investigate the use of shoulder ultrasound as a method of predicting the likelihood of returning to competition in agility dogs with shoulder teno-muscular injuries after a standardised rehabilitation protocol. Thirty-two agility dogs with a clinical and ultrasonographic diagnosis of shoulder teno-muscular injury were included in a prospective study with physical and ultrasound examinations at the time of diagnosis (T0) and at two (T2), four (T4) and six (T6) months; during this period, the dogs received rehabilitation treatments. The endpoint of the study was to obtain information regarding participation in agility competitions 12 months after diagnosis, based on telephone interviews with the owners. The clinical lameness score (CLS) and the ultrasound lesion score (ULS) were used as outcome measurements. The CLS indicated partial recovery from a shoulder injury at T2 (78%), while the ULS indicated no satisfactory recovery at T2 in any patient. At 4 months, the CLS alone was not a valuable predictor of full recovery from a shoulder injury in agility dogs. Relative Risk indicated that, at T2, ultrasound was 23.8 times more valuable in identifying a shoulder lesion as compared to clinical lameness score (CLS), and it was 2.53 times more valuable at T4.