DISCOESPONDILITIS

Es la enfermedad de la médula más frecuente en los perros.
Suele estar causado por Staphylococcus aureus, aunque también se han aislado Brucella canis, Streptococcus spp. Y otras bacterias y hongos.
Las vértebras torácicas medias, C6-C7 y L7-S1 son las que se afectan con más frecuencia.

Los factores a tener en cuenta al elegir un régimen terapéutico incluyen:
1.grado de disfunción neurológica.
2.resultados del título de B. Canis y de los cultivos de sangre.
3.multiplicidad de las lesiones.
4.accesibilidad quirúrgica a las lesiones.

Los perros con poca o sin disfunción responden a la antibioterapia. Los perros con parálisis o paresia pronunciada tiene una compresión medular que se debe tratar quirúrgicamente.
La mielografía nos puede ayudar a encontrar el sitio exacto de lesión.
Se debe practicar una hemilaminectomía pues las apófisis espinosas dorsales se protegen para la estabilización.

Otro punto de vista (Universidad de Florida):

Discospondylitis represents an infection of the vertebrae associated with abscessation of the interveterbral space.
It may be secondary to a migrating foreign body; but, often, no specific source of the infections is found. It is thought that, in most cases, there is a hematogenous spread of the infection which isolates into a degenerative disc. Although some cases are associated with vegetative endocarditis, most do not demonstrate a source of infection. It may be that agents enter through inflamed tissues associated with periodontal disease.
In cases where there is persistent or intermittent fever, blood cultures may provide information about the infection. This is, however, less common than finding the organism in the urine.

The primary complaint in discospondylitis is pain at the site of infection. In severe cases, quadriparesis and anorexia may be present with cervical discospondylitis.
The diagnosis is confirmed by routine spinal radiographs showing characteristic lysis and sclerosis of the adjacent endplates of the vertebrae. This is one of the few neurologic conditions where the diagnosis can be made on routine radiographic examination.
The minimum data base includes a CBC (with a marker of inflammation such as the plasma fibrinogen level), urinalysis (with culture), fecal examination, Brucella canis titer, and spinal radiographs.
Chest radiographs and echocardiography may be indicated if there is a heart murmur. Since the radiography changes may not occur until 2-3 weeks from the start of clinical signs, repeat radiographic examination is indicated when discospondylitis is high on the differential list.
The CBC may reflect changes consistent with infection (including neutrophilia) or be normal.
On of the important monitors is the marker of inflammation. We use fibrinogen, since it is easy and inexpensive to run. When the fibrinogen levels are elevated, this is a good indicator of a disease with much tissue reaction. On the other hand, when the fibrinogen is low, I am particularly concerned about the possibility of fungal disease. In the later case, I usually perform a routine chest radiograph looking for discospondylitic-like lesions between the sternabrae.
When lesions are also present between the sternabrae, most often fungal infection is the cause of the discospondylitis lesions.
The causative agents are bacteria (Staphylococcus, Streptococcus and Corynebacterium are the most common, although Brucella can be occasionally be seen as a cause), parasitic (Spirocerca lupi in thoracic discospondylitis), and fungal (Aspergillus and Nocardia). As such, the treatment and prognosis vary depending upon the organism causing the infection.
Parasitic infections are rare except in the Southwestern US and usually represent advanced cases of parasitism.
Brucella canis infection is not uncommon, but much less so than the other bacterial causes. When Brucella appears to be the cause, antibiotic therapy must take this into account (usually, I use doxycycline).
Fungal infections with Aspergillus do not respond well to antifungal drugs. Recently, there have been reports of controlling the infection for extended period using itraconazole. I use raw garlic in hopes that it will help control the problem.
By in large, the most common causes of discospondylitis are secondary to bacteria which can be treated using a combination of sulfa drugs (sulfadimethozine, 15 mg/kg every 12 hours) and either cephalosporins (22 mg/kg every 8-12 hours) or enrofloxacin (5-7.5 mg/kg every 12 hours).
I prefer the former combination and treat the infection for a minimum of 6-8 weeks.
Radiographic repair usually lags behind remission of the infection; however, following the response to therapy and continuing therapy beyond the time of radiographic quiescence seem the best policy.
In cases which do not respond, the urine should be reexamined and abdominal ultrasound of the kidneys performed, looking for evidence that fungal disease was the real cause. Rarely, the infection will result in bony compression or instability requiring surgical intervention. Most often, spinal cord compression is the result of soft tissue inflammation which subsides quickly with appropriate antibiotic therapy.