Milo
Steph and her family dote on eight-year-old delightful Dalmatian, Milo, never more so than now as he’s been diagnosed with a developmental condition affecting his spinal cord and is in constant pain.
The Problem
The neurology team at Fitzpatricks has referred him directly to Noel to discuss surgery options after scans reveal multiple sites of deformity affecting Milo’s vertebrae, which are squashing both his spinal cord and also the nerves coming out on either side. Noel diagnoses cervical spondylomyelopathy, also known as ‘wobbler's syndrome', in this case, caused by bony squashing and so ‘osseous associated wobblers syndrome (OAWS)’.
Treatment
He offers the option of distraction fusion surgery to relieve both the pressure and the pain. Ultimately, it’s up to the family to decide whether to proceed with this operation which involves exposing the spinal column and fitting specially designed spacers between four of the vertebrae, locked into position using screws and plates and linked with rods to provide rigid stabilisation and fusion. This would remove compression of the bone on the spinal cord and nerves.
Milo recovering in the wards
