Diagnosis and treatment of Joint Disease of Small Animals

1 Introduction 5
2 Structure and Function of Joints 7
3 Joint diseases of animals and Diagnosis 11
Joint Diseases of Animals 12
Diagnosis of Joint Diseases 13
1 – General physical examination 13
2 – Examination of lameness 14
3 – Orthopedic evaluation 14
4 – Diagnostic imaging 16
X-ray examination 17
Arthroscopy 18
Tomographic Imaging (X-ray CT, MRI, Ultrasonography, or others) 19
5 – Tests on the synovial fluid 20
Appearance 21
Cytological analysis 21
Protein content 21
Bacteriologic culture test 21
4 Treatment of Joint Diseases 23
1 – Conservative therapy 24
Non-drug conservative therapy 24
Drug therapy 24
Purposes 24
– Control of pain 24
– Control of joint inflammation 25
– Correction of degraded joint structure 25
– Modification of cartilage matrix metabolism 25
Practical aspects of drug therapy 25
– Steroids and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs 25 5 – Disease-Modifying Osteoarthritis Agents (DMOA) 27
2 – Surgical treatment 28
5 Conclusion 31
References 32