Muscle Injuries of the Forelimb (infraspinatus, triceps...)

Supraspinatus disease:
Supraspinatus disease (SD) is a relative uncommon condition affecting dogs with fore limb lameness. Currently it is thought to be caused by a repetitive strain injury. It diagnosis and management can be challenging. The diagnosis is based on clinical findings and advanced imaging. Dogs affected by SD often don’t respond to traditional conservative management (rest and NSIADs) and normally the lameness is worsened by exercise. Treatment strategies previously reported varies from surgery (excision of mineralisation within the tendon), physiotherapy or no treatment at all since SD could well be asymptomatic and therefore an incidental finding.

Dr Sherman Canapp, evaluated 120 dogs with SD, and found that SD can affect dogs of pretty much all ages (8months-13 years) with a mean age at presentation of 6 years. 1/3 of these dogs were involved in sport activities such as agility or flyball. 75% of these dogs did not respond to rest and NSIDs. The majority of these dogs presented with a unilateral lameness and a lameness score of 3/6. The duration of lameness was also variable (weeks-1 year). Breeds more commonly affected were Labrador, Rottweiler and Border collie.

In the same study, the clinical findings were also quite interesting:

• Direct pain on Supraspinatus palpation: 59% of dogs
• Pain on shoulder extension: 63% of dogs
• Pain on shoulder abduction: 70% of dogs
• Pain on shoulder flexion: 27% of dogs
• Pain on biceps tendon test ( shoulder flexion, elbow extension and direct palpation of biceps): 47% of dogs 
• Of these dogs with biceps tendon pain, in 95% of the cases further imaging such as ultrasound or MRI was performed and showed concurrent biceps tendon disease in 95% of the cases. [...]