33rd Annual Scientific Meeting proceedings

Introduction
The small size of the scope/cannula units used in needle arthroscopy (NA) combined with their relative flexibility is considered by some authors as an advantage over large scope/cannula units used in standard arthroscopy, especially in narrow joints. To our knowledge no study has described NA-assisted treatment of medial coronoid disease (MCD) in dogs with fragmented medial coronoid (MCP). Our objectives were to evaluate its feasibility and short term outcome.

Materials and methods
Eighteen client-owned dogs underwent NA-assisted removal of the fragmented MCP portions. Analyzed data included subjective lameness scores (0-5 scale) recorded before and 1 month after surgery and Canine Orthopaedic Index (COI) scores established at time of presentation and at latest follow-up. Quantitative data were expressed as median. A Wilcoxon matched-pairs test was performed for comparison of the COI scores (level of significance set at p<0.05).

Results
Lame dogs having MCD of various breeds with a median weight of 31,8 kg (range: 25,4-35,9 kg) and a median age of 13,5 months (range 10-19,8 months) were operated. NA-assisted treatment was successfully completed in all MCD cases. No lameness was observed in 13/16 dogs and 3/16 dogs showed residual lameness (score=1/5) one month postoperatively. A consistent decrease in COI scores was observed at a median follow-up of 100 (73-125,5) days (p <0.0001).

Discussion
NA-assisted removal of fragmented portions of the MCP provided good short-term clinical outcomes in the present study. Larger clinical studies with longer follow-up are needed to validate the relevancy of this strategy.