Retrospective Evaluation of Stair-Related Injuries in Dogs Presenting to Emergency Centers: 61 Cases (2017-2022).

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the characteristics of stair-related injuries in dogs and estimate injury frequencies in patients presenting to veterinary trauma centers. DESIGN: Retrospective evaluation of medical records in canine trauma cases. SETTING: Two university teaching hospitals. ANIMALS: Sixty-one dogs presented to university-based emergency centers after falling down the stairs between January 2017 and July 2022. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Sixty-one dogs presenting with a history of falling down the stairs that underwent complete physical examination were included. Dogs with severe preexisting comorbidities and cats were excluded. Injuries were categorized based on the body system affected (head, spine, extremity, thorax, abdomen) and further subcategorized based on the level of severity (mild, moderate, severe). Geriatric and nongeriatric populations were compared. Mild (ambulatory paraparesis), moderate (nonambulatory paraparesis), and severe (paraplegia) myelopathies occurred in 18% (n = 11), 11% (n = 7), and 5% (n = 3) of cases, respectively. Mild (lameness), moderate (lameness with tendon or ligament disruption or bony luxation), and severe (bony fracture) extremity injuries had a prevalence of 28% (n = 17), 7% (n = 4), and 13% (n = 8), respectively. Traumatic brain injury was documented in 8% of cases, and no cases of thoracic or abdominal trauma were documented. There were no differences in odds of traumatic brain injury, extremity injury, spinal cord injury, or severity of injuries between geriatric and nongeriatric patients. Forty-five (74%) cases were discharged from the hospital. CONCLUSION: Falls involving stairs are associated with various forms of injury in dogs. Many cases were mild, allowing for outpatient management. In some cases, it may be difficult to determine whether the fall caused the injury or whether disease precipitated the fall (e.g., myelopathy, pathological fracture). The small sample size of this population likely limited the ability to detect significant differences in pattern of injury between geriatric and nongeriatric patients. Further investigation with a larger population size is warranted.