Arthroscopic examination of the shoulder, elbow and stifle joints in dogs

The purpose of this PhD study has been to perform arthroscopic examinations of the shoulder, elbow and stifle joints in dogs and to establish routine use of these applications in our clinic. Thirty-eight medium and large breed dogs were included in the study. Thirty-one of these animals were clinical cases and arthroscopy was carried out experimentally in the remaining 7. A total of 61 joints belonging to these dogs were examined arthroscopically and the results were evaluated.

In the 7 dogs in which arthroscopy was performed to gain practical experience, a total of 28 joints (11 shoulders, 6 elbows and 11 stifles) were examined. In the 31 dogs which had lameness complaints, a total of 33 joints (13 shoulders, ¡3 elbows and 7 stifles) were examined.

Body weight, gender, age and breed distribution of the clinical cases and their relationships to joint diseases were evaluated in detail.

In the arthroscopic examination of the shoulder joint; OCD of the humeral head was seen in 4 cases, rupture of the origin of the biceps brachi muscle together with cartilage erosion of the humeral head in 1 case, fracture of the caudal glenoid together with partial rupture of the medial glenohumeral ligament in 1 case, complete rupture of the medial glenohumeral ligament in 1 case, rupture of the subscapular ligament in 2 cases, cartilage erosion of the humeral head in 1 case and cartilage erosion of the caudal glenoid in 1 case. The remaining 13 shoulders were sound.

Arthroscopic examination of the elbow joints revealed FCP and cartilage erosion of the humeral condyle in 5 cases, fissure of the medial coronoid process in 3 cases, fractured anconeal process in 3 cases, as well as osteophytosis in 1 of these cases, and synovial hyperplasia in 1 other case. The remaining 7 elbow joints were sound.

In the stifle arthroscopies; rupture of the cranial cruciate ligament together with ostephytosis in the femoral condyle was observed in 5 cases and rupture of the medial meniscus in 1 case. No pathological lesions were encountered in the remaining 12 stifle joints.

With the arthroscopy technique, intraarticular examination was performed with minimal trauma to the joint Intraarticular lesions, such as cartilage defects and ligament ruptures, which could not be determined using direct and indirect radiographic methods, were seen in arthroscopic examination. This proved that arthroscopy is greatly advantageous in cases where accurate diagnosis of joint diseases cannot be made using routine clinical examination methods.