Musculoskeletal Ultrasound
Ultrasound imaging uses sound waves to produce pictures of muscles, tendons, ligaments, nerves and joints throughout the body. It is used to help diagnose sprains, strains, tears, trapped nerves, arthritis and other musculoskeletal conditions. Ultrasound is safe, noninvasive, and does not use ionizing radiation.
This procedure requires little to no special preparation. With an increasing awareness of soft tissue injury by veterinarians specializing in canine sports medicine, orthopedics, and rehabilitation, diagnostic ultrasound is now being utilized to diagnose them.
There are multiple advantages over other diagnostic imaging modalities for the evaluation of soft tissue injuries in dogs and cats:
- Does not require anesthesia
- Lower cost than MRI (easier, more frequent rechecks)
- Significant amount of detail in multiple angles can be obtained by ultrasound of the affected structure
- clear picture of soft tissues that do not show up well on x-ray images
AIS PennHip Hip Dysplasia Screening
AIS PennHIP testing is accurate in puppies as young as 16 weeks of age. It gives an estimate of the risk for painful osteoarthritis (OA) of canine hip dysplasia (CHD) later in life. With this information, preventive and palliative strategies can be recommended by the PennHIP-trained veterinarian.
All dogs can benefit from PennHIP testing. For pet dogs found to be at risk to develop hip OA, early intervention can help prevent or lessen the severity of CHD. For working/service dogs, identifying a dog with healthy hips can extend the working life of the dog. For breeding dogs, early detection of at-risk hips can allow the breeder to make early, informed decisions as to which dogs to keep in breeding programs.
