Abstract
Background In human medicine, fractures of the second cervical vertebra have been studied elaborately
and categorized in detail. This is not the case in veterinary medicine where clinical
decisions are often based on old studies focusing on the cervical spine in general.
Objectives The aim of this study was to describe the clinical features, fracture types, therapeutic
options and outcome of dogs and cats with a fractured axis.
Study Design The present study was a multi-institutional retrospective case series.
Results Crossbreeds and Labrador Retrievers were the most represented dog breeds. Median
age was 2 years. Motor vehicle accident was the most common inciting cause, followed
by frontal collision. The most common neurological deficits ranged from cervical pain
with or without mild ataxia (22/68) to tetraparesis (28/68) and tetraplegia (11/68).
Concerning treatment, 37 of 69 patients underwent surgical fracture stabilization,
27/69 received conservative therapy and 5/69 were immediately euthanatized. Of all
treated cases, 52/58 showed ambulatory recovery (23/25 of the conservatively treated
and 29/33 of the surgically treated cases), whereby in 40/52 cases full recovery without
persisting signs was achieved.
Conclusions Fractures of the axis commonly occur in young dogs. In many cases, neurological deficits
are relatively mild. Generally, animals with a fractured axis have a very good prognosis
for functional recovery. The risk of perioperative mortality is considerably lower
than previously reported.
Keywords
axis fractures - cervical fractures - fracture stabilization - dog - cat
