Department of Equine and Small Animal Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 57 Viikintie 49, 00014, Helsinki, Finland.
Acta Vet Scand. 2013 Apr 8;55(1):29. doi: 10.1186/1751-0147-55-29.
Various physiotherapeutic evaluation methods are used to assess the functionality of dogs with stifle problems. Neither validity nor sensitivity of these methods has been investigated. This study aimed to determine the most valid and sensitive physiotherapeutic evaluation methods for assessing functional capacity in hind limbs of dogs with stifle problems and to serve as a basis for developing an indexed test for these dogs. A group of 43 dogs with unilateral surgically treated cranial cruciate ligament deficiency and osteoarthritic findings was used to test different physiotherapeutic evaluation methods. Twenty-one healthy dogs served as the control group and were used to determine normal variation in static weight bearing and range of motion.The protocol consisted of 14 different evaluation methods: visual evaluation of lameness, visual evaluation of diagonal movement, visual evaluation of functional active range of motion and difference in thrust of hind limbs via functional tests (sit-to-move and lie-to-move), movement in stairs, evaluation of hind limb muscle atrophy, manual evaluation of hind limb static weight bearing, quantitative measurement of static weight bearing of hind limbs with bathroom scales, and passive range of motion of hind limb stifle (flexion and extension) and tarsal (flexion and extension) joints using a universal goniometer. The results were compared with those from an orthopaedic examination, force plate analysis, radiographic evaluation, and a conclusive assessment. Congruity of the methods was assessed with a combination of three statistical approaches (Fisher's exact test and two differently calculated proportions of agreeing observations), and the components were ranked from best to worst. Sensitivities of all of the physiotherapeutic evaluation methods against each standard were calculated.
Evaluation of asymmetry in a sitting and lying position, assessment of muscle atrophy, manual and measured static weight bearing, and measurement of stifle passive range of motion were the most valid and sensitive physiotherapeutic evaluation methods.
Ranking of the various physiotherapeutic evaluation methods was accomplished. Several of these methods can be considered valid and sensitive when examining the functionality of dogs with stifle problems.
各种物理治疗评估方法用于评估患有膝关节问题的狗的功能。这些方法的有效性和敏感性都没有得到研究。本研究旨在确定最有效的和敏感的物理治疗评估方法，以评估膝关节问题的狗的后腿功能能力，并为这些狗开发一个索引测试提供基础。一组 43 只患有单侧手术治疗的十字韧带断裂和骨关节炎发现的狗被用于测试不同的物理治疗评估方法。21 只健康的狗作为对照组，用于确定静态负重和运动范围的正常变化。该方案包括 14 种不同的评估方法：跛行的视觉评估、对角运动的视觉评估、功能主动运动范围的视觉评估和通过功能测试（坐动和卧动）后腿的推力差异、楼梯运动、后腿肌肉萎缩的评估、后腿静态负重的手动评估、用浴室秤对后腿静态负重的定量测量以及后腿膝关节（弯曲和伸展）和跗关节（弯曲和伸展）的被动运动范围使用通用量角器。结果与骨科检查、测力板分析、放射学评估和结论性评估进行了比较。使用三种统计方法（Fisher 精确检验和两种不同计算的一致观察比例）组合评估方法的一致性，并对组件进行从最佳到最差的排序。针对每种标准计算了所有物理治疗评估方法的敏感性。
在坐姿和卧姿下评估不对称、评估肌肉萎缩、手动和测量的静态负重以及测量膝关节的被动运动范围是最有效的和敏感的物理治疗评估方法。
对各种物理治疗评估方法进行了排名。在检查膝关节问题的狗的功能时，可以考虑其中几种方法是有效的和敏感的。
