Overcoming Spinal Challenges: Lola’s Inspiring Recovery

Lola is an 11 years young and full-of-life Chihuahua who was referred to the neurology service for investigation and treatment of incoordination of her hind limbs that had been steadily getting worse over a few weeks.  Lola was seen by Tom Shaw, specialist in neurology and after a consultation the decision was made to perform an MRI scan of her spine.  We were able to obtain extremely high-resolution images with our AI-enabled MR5300 and these identified the cause – not one but three protruding discs in the mid-back region causing significant spinal cord compression.  After a period of strict rest, the problem did not improve, and Lola’s owner made the difficult decision for Lola to undergo surgery.   The recommended procedure – a corpectomy to remove the protruding part of a disc – is usually only carried out on one disc, but in Lola’s case it had to be performed on three discs!  Due to her tiny size, the procedure was carefully planned with our anaesthesia and imaging teams to ensure it went smoothly, and Lola required an MRI scan during the procedure to ensure it was completed effectively.  Lola was discharged two days after surgery with a home physiotherapy plan provided by our in-house team.  She was seen for a recheck 6 weeks later and she had improved so much that her hind limbs incoordination had almost completely resolved.  Six months on, Lola’s owner has reported that she is absolutely thriving and back to her energetic self.  

“A triple corpectomy on such a tiny patient is a considerable challenge but it was wonderful to be able to perform this successfully and restore Lola’s quality of life.  A procedure of this kind would not have been possible without the skilled staff and advanced equipment we have at our disposal”

Tom Shaw, Head of Neurology