Dataset Information

Clinical features of muscle cramp in 14 dogs.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Muscle cramps (MCs) are prolonged, involuntary, painful muscle contractions characterized by an acute onset and short duration, caused by peripheral nerve hyperactivity.

Objectives

To provide a detailed description of the clinical features and diagnostic findings in dogs affected by MCs.

Animals

Fourteen dogs.

Methods

Multicenter retrospective case series. Cases were recruited by a call to veterinary neurologists working in referral practices. Medical records and videotapes were searched for dogs showing MCs. The follow-up was obtained by telephone communication with the owner and the referring veterinarian.

Results

Three patterns of presentation were identified depending on the number of affected limbs and presence/absence of migration of MCs to other limbs. In 9/14 (64%) of dogs, MCs were triggered by prompting the dogs to move. 8/14 (58%) dogs were overtly painful with 6/14 (42%) showing mild discomfort. The cause of MCs was hypocalcemia in 11/14 (79%) dogs: 9 dogs were affected by primary hypoparathyrodism, 1 dog by intestinal lymphoma and 1 dog by protein losing enteropathy. In 3/14 cases (21%) the cause was not identified, and all 3 dogs were German Shepherds.

Conclusions and clinical importance

Muscle cramps can manifest in 1 of 3 clinical patterns. Muscle cramps are elicited when dogs are encouraged to move and do not always appear as painful events, showing in some cases only discomfort. The main cause of MCs in this study was hypocalcemia consequent to primary hypoparathyroidism. In dogs having MCs of unknown etiology, idiopathic disease or paroxysmal dyskinesia could not be ruled out.

SUBMITTER: Gagliardo T

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7848340 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Clinical features of muscle cramp in 14 dogs.

Gagliardo Teresa T Ruggeri Roberta R Di Paola Andrea A Baroni Massimo M Cherubini Giunio B GB Gallucci Antonella A Falzone Cristian C Trimboli Stefania S Albul Andrey A Gandini Gualtiero G

Journal of veterinary internal medicine 20201128 1

<h4>Background</h4>Muscle cramps (MCs) are prolonged, involuntary, painful muscle contractions characterized by an acute onset and short duration, caused by peripheral nerve hyperactivity.<h4>Objectives</h4>To provide a detailed description of the clinical features and diagnostic findings in dogs affected by MCs.<h4>Animals</h4>Fourteen dogs.<h4>Methods</h4>Multicenter retrospective case series. Cases were recruited by a call to veterinary neurologists working in referral practices. Medical reco ...[more]

PMID: 33247617

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Dataset Information

Clinical features of muscle cramp in 14 dogs.

Background

Objectives

Animals

Methods

Results

Conclusions and clinical importance

Publications

Clinical features of muscle cramp in 14 dogs.

Similar Datasets

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