Study explores elbow joint disease in UK dogs

Researchers have completed the largest study of elbow disease in dogs attending first opinion veterinary practices in the UK.

The results have highlighted the breeds most at risk, to help owners be alert for the signs of the condition and seek veterinary treatment early.

High-risk breeds

Five breeds had especially high risk of elbow joint disease compared with cross-breed dogs:

• Rottweiler (×6 risk)
• Labrador retriever (×6 risk)
• German shepherd dog (×4 risk)
• golden retriever (×3 risk)
• English springer spaniel (×2 risk)

‘Relatively common’

The research – led by the RVC VetCompass programme – found elbow joint disease affects 0.6% of dogs under primary veterinary care, with more than 60% of these dogs affected in both elbows.

The most common presenting signs reported by owners were lameness (75.65%), difficulty exercising (19.97%) and pain (13.96%). Additionally, elbow joint disease contributed to the decision to euthanise for more than 40% of affected dogs that died during the study.

The findings, said VetCompass, highlighted elbow joint disease was a “relatively common diagnosis with a high impact on the quality of life of affected dogs”.

Other findings

Among other key findings of the research:

• The most common specific types of elbow joint disease were arthritis (75.97%), elbow dysplasia (30.84%) and traumatic (6.66%).
• Common medications used included NSAIDs (88.31%), tramadol (19.64%) and disease-modifying agents (19.16%).
• Two breeds had reduced risk of elbow joint disease compared with cross-breeds – the Jack Russell terrier and West Highland white terrier.
• Dogs aged 9 to 12 years old had 2.56 times the risk of elbow joint disease compared to dogs younger than 3 years of age.
• Males had 1.47 times the risk of elbow joint disease compared with females.
• Neutered animals had 1.69 times the risk of elbow joint disease compared with entire animals.
• The risk of elbow joint disease increased substantially as adult bodyweight increases.