Papers by William Castillo
Background: Hip dysplasia is a very common orthopedic disorder in dogs, and a costly one for owne... more Background: Hip dysplasia is a very common orthopedic disorder in dogs, and a costly one for owners. Currently, only a few treatment strategies are available for treatment of hip dysplasia: medications, rehabilitation therapy, surgery and rigid braces/orthotics. We have developed a therapeutic garment which works to reduce effects of hip dysplasia by stimulating the proprioceptive system in a strategic way to engage the gluteal, epaxial and abdominal muscles as the dog moves, with the goal of enhancing the dynamic stability of the hip joint, thereby reducing the pain and inflammation associated with hip dysplasia. Materials and methods: We conducted a preliminary clinical test of the garment on 5 dogs with varying degrees of hip dysplasia and asked the owners to have their dogs wear the garment daily for a minimum of 1 h, for a 3-week period. Owners filled out a Canine Brief Pain Index (CBPI), a validated pain scale, prior to the garment being fitted and again at the end of each week. Certified rehabilitation therapists (veterinarians or physical therapists, CCRP/T) collected objective data (hip extension ROM, thigh circumference), filled out a functional score, and videoed the dogs walking with and without the garment on at the initiation and completion of the clinical trial. Results: Results from this study were favorable. All dogs demonstrated gains in hip extension ROM, thigh girth gains in 3/5 dogs, decreased lameness score in 4/5 dogs, improvement in walking distance in 3/5 dogs, better ability to climb stairs in 3/5 dogs and improvement in the CBPI noted by 4/5 owners. All dogs were accepting of the garment, and no declines in functional ability were noted by the owners during use. Conclusion: Based on this limited sample trial, it appears that this garment could provide a novel approach to the treatment for hip dysplasia. A longer-term study with a larger test population is needed. A2 Development of a Basic Functional Neurorehabilitation Scale (BFNRS) for evaluation and monitoring of dogs with thoracolumbar injury
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Papers by William Castillo