Kinesiology Analysis of Different Physical Activities in Hip Dysplastic and Healthy Dogs

Introduction: Canine hip dysplasia (CHD) produce clinical signs of lameness, reluctance to move and difficulties in getting up, sitting down, climbing upstairs, and walking down slopes. To investigate these CHD signs our objective was evaluate these activities using kinesiology equipment to quantify the limitations in these patients.

Materials and Methods: 20 dogs with bilateral CHD and 20 healthy dogs were used. Both groups were submitted to kinetic and kinematic analysis while walking. Climbing upstairs, walking down a slope, sitting down, standing up were evaluated with kinematic equipment. Vertical forces during walking and motion data collected from the right hip, femorotibiopatellar, and tibiotarsal joints were compared between groups in several physical activities and mean difference on average was recorded after statistics (unpaired t-test with p < 0.05).

Results: Dysplastic dogs had peak vertical force decreased in 4% of body weight on average, symmetry index increased in 12.6% on average, and maximum hip joint extension angle and range of motion (ROM) reduced in all tests. Mean hip joint ROM difference was 20, 25.5, 25.4, and 11 degrees (climbing upstairs, walking down a slope, sitting down, standing up, and walking exercise, respectively).

Discussion/Conclusion: Kinesiology showed that dogs with CHD have difficulties performing several physical activities not just walking. These results suggest that access to the locomotion in different activities to provide a more comprehensive patient evaluation in dysplastic dogs is recommended.

Acknowledgment: Thanks to FAPESP n°2013/21406–5 for research financial support and IFAM for presentation costs. There was none conflict of interest.