Overview

Hip Dysplasia: Overview

Hip dysplasia is a deformity of the hip that occurs during growth. The hip joint is a “ball and socket” joint. During growth both the “ball” (the head of the thighbone) and the “socket” in the pelvis need to grow at equal rates.

In hip dysplasia growth occurs at inequal rates. The result is a looseness in the joint. This can cause degenerative joint disease or arthritis, which is the body’s attempt to stabilize the loose hip joint.

The degree of lameness that occurs is dependent on the extent of these arthritic changes and may not be correlated with the appearance of the hip joint on x-rays. Some pets with significant signs of hip dysplasia on x-rays may not exhibit any clinical signs while others with minimal changes may experience severe pain and lameness.

Symptoms and Diagnosis

What are the symtoms to look for?

• Pain in the hips will often appear as your puppy goes through it's heavy growth stage. This pain may disappear for some years before it returns as the pain of arthritis caused by the malformation of the hip joint.
• Your dog may appear wobbly and rise slowly from a sitting or lying position. This can be seen in puppies a few months old but is most common in dogs one to two years of age.
• Dogs with mild hip dysplasia on x-ray may develop minimal arthritis without clinical signs until they are older.

How is it diagnosed?

A hip x-ray is the best way to diagnose hip dysplasia. Clinical signs and palpable joint laxity may also indicate hip dysplasia. Any pet suspected of having hip dysplasia should be radiographed as soon as possible.

Treatment

What is the treatment?

This depends upon the pet’s clinical signs and amount of discomfort. There are very effective non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) that have minimal side effects. The choice of medication is made on an individual basis and various drugs may need to be tried before finding the most effective one. Most dogs with hip dysplasia should receive veterinary-approved glucosamine-chondroitin sulfate nutritional supplements.

What if NSAIDs don’t help?

The alternative to NSAID therapy is surgery. There are several surgical procedures available to treat hip dysplasia. The two most surgical techniques for hip dysplasia are total hip replacement and femoral head ostectomy (FHO). The choice of surgery will be determined by your pet’s condition and lifestyle.

Links

Links to other helpful articles.

• Hip Dysplasia in Dogs: Diagnosis, Treatment, Prevention
• Hip Dysplasia in Dogs
• Hip Dysplasia- PetStyle