The importance of position in a hip x-ray

Comments

• StaticNfuzz

  November 2009 edited November -1

  Thanks so much Beth for the link. It really helps to see multiple x-rays and opinions.
  Snf
• TheWalrus

  November 2009 edited November -1

  VERY informative! Thanks for posting this Beth!
• TeamLaika

  November 2009 edited November -1

  Leerburg has some OK points, but he always comes off as such a jackass.
  
  While it is true that it is possible to make decent hips look slightly worse, it is never possible to make horrendous hips look good.
  
  The secrets to proper hip evaluation are
  1. Trained technicians (very few veterinarians actually shoot their own radiographs unless PennHip procedure)
  
  2. SEDATION! Ironically, the same folks who will piss and moan about less-than-precise radiographic positioning are often the ones who adamantly decline sedation. How easy is it to put a young, wriggly GSD on it's back, extend the pelvic limbs and rotate the stifle joints medially to keep the femurs straight? Let me tell you, it is difficult if the dog feels well and IMPOSSIBLE if the dog is painful with crap hips. SEDATE the dogs, give them something for pain if you suspect HD and make life easier for them and the technicians. Otherwise it's wrestlefest 2000 and you're exposing multiple people to unnecessary radiation. NEVER does Leerburg mention sedation. Domitor with torbugesic is a great cocktail and since the domitor can be reversed, the dogs will be up and around in no time.
  
  3. GSDs and other narrow, long-bodied, deep-chested dogs are difficult to keep straight on their backs. There are these little troughs to place them in on the x-ray table to keep them on their backs better and prevent the pelvis from tilting.
  
  4. Most veterinarians I know don't charge for their 'mistakes'. They will have the techs repeat the shot until the view is appropriate and they can be confident in their diagnosis.
• StaticNfuzz

  November 2009 edited November 2009

  I didn’t even think of the sedation issue or lack of in regard to the photos. I just assumed they would be under. The vets I know won’t consider doing the hip x-rays without putting under so figured that would be a common practice. Besides why would any vet put their staff at risk by struggling with a dog during the procedure… That is just a lawsuit waiting to happen.
  
  Snf
• lindsayt

  November 2009 edited November -1

  Even for Ike, who is totally mellow, I was advised to sedate him before shooting rads of him. The ironic thing is that you can get rads at dog shows from mobile clinics, but they advertise doing it without sedation.
• StaticNfuzz

  November 2009 edited November -1

  Team Laika:
  
  In your opinion which is more accurate OFA or Penn Hip? What are your thoughts....experiences with either or etc?
  Leerburg touches on it but not fully enough.
  
  I think you have discussed this before but I can't find the thread.
  
  TIA
  Snf
• TeamLaika

  December 2009 edited November -1

  Hi Patrice!
  Sorry it took me a few days to get back to this...PennHip is a better test because it evaluates hip laxity, the most important risk factor in a dog's development of coxofemoral joint osteoarthritis. It can also be done accurately on young dogs (as young as 16 weeks). Film submission is mandatory, so there is no 'prescreening' like with OFA. Also unlike OFA, it is not a subjective measuring system (no problem with someone's 'good' being another person's 'fair'). It does require a veterinarian that has been trained in the method, special equipment, and sedation (the distraction bars are uncomfortable in awake dogs). With rare breeds, there are not many numbers in the database, so they will be compared to the overall population of dogs. Another disadvantage is that, at present, there is no searchable database as with OFA.
  
  Since hip dysplasia is a developmental disease, the major problem with OFA is that there are rarely repeated results. The joint conformation is assessed when the dogs are young and it does not evaluate hip laxity. As a result, particularly in borderline cases, the hips may appear 'good' or 'fair' at age 2, but are anything but at age 11. I'll put much more stock in OFA results that are reported for older dogs (eg. age 5 and up). But the fact remains that conformation championships are often awarded to immature dogs and then as soon as they turn 2, they get a couple of films and head straight to the breeding shed, never to be evaluated again. I feel that OFA 'prelims' are a total waste of time and money. OFA is cheaper, doesn't require sedation if the dog is tractable and comfortable, and requires no specialized equipment or training so general practioners can take and submit films.
  
  I encourage everyone to do some reading on the PennHip website.
  http://research.vet.upenn.edu/Default.aspx?alias=research.vet.upenn.edu/pennhip
  
  Triepak and Guska have both had their hips evaluated with OFA and PennHip. Interestingly, Guska was assigned OFA 'good' and Triepak was assigned OFA 'excellent', but Guska has better PennHip scores - (L:0.23, R:0.18) vs. (L: 0.32, R: 0.23). Those are some tight hips though, and that puts them both in the 90% percentile among all breeds.
  
  You can see their OFA results here, done at 70 months (almost 6 years old)
  http://offa.org/display.html?appnum=1286312#animal
  
  Hope this helps.