Baseline cystometric parameters in conscious and anesthetized sheep: experimental data and systematic review.

Objective: To characterize cystometry in conscious and anesthetized sheep, including bladder response to sacral root electrical stimulation, thereby providing a baseline set of values.

Methods: Single-fill cystometries were repeated in adult mule ewes both conscious (n = 5) and under general anesthesia (18) using a commercial system. Parameters including bladder capacity, detrusor (bladder) pressure, urethral opening pressure, bladder compliance, number of nonvoiding detrusor contractions, and bladder pressure change in response to electrical stimulation of the sacral roots under general anesthesia are reported.

Prospective randomized trial comparing relapse rates in dogs with steroid-responsive meningitis-arteritis treated with a 6-week or 6-month prednisolone protocol.

Background: Traditionally, 6-month courses of prednisolone are used to treat steroid-responsive meningitis-arteritis (SRMA), but this medication is associated with adverse effects that can lead to poor quality of life.

Hypothesis/objectives: Resolution of clinical signs and rate of relapse of SRMA would not be significantly different between a 6-month prednisolone protocol and a 6-week protocol.

Animals: Forty-four hospital cases from multiple referral centers in the United Kingdom (2015-2019).

Randomized Controlled Trial of Durotomy as an Adjunct to Routine Decompressive Surgery for Dogs With Severe Acute Spinal Cord Injury.

Although many interventions for acute spinal cord injury (SCI) appear promising in experimental models, translation directly from experimental animals to human patients is a large step that can be problematic. Acute SCI occurs frequently in companion dogs and may provide a model to ease translation. Recently, incision of the dura has been highlighted in both research animals and human patients as a means of reducing intraspinal pressure, with a view to improving perfusion of the injured tissue and enhancing functional recovery.

A Multielectrode Nerve Cuff for Chronic Velocity Selective Recording in a sheep model.

Supra-sacral spinal cord injury (SCI) causes loss of bladder fullness sensation and bladder over-activity, leading to retention and incontinence respectively. Velocity selective recording (VSR) of nerve roots innervating the bladder might enable identification of bladder activity. A 10-electrode nerve cuff for sacral nerve root VSR was developed and tested in a sheep model during acute surgeries and chronic implantation for 6 months.