Jump Down Syndrome

When I was going home to visit my family I took some Clean Run magazines to read on the plane. While I was reading the Jump Down Syndrome article I thought is this what Spice has?

Spice has been limping for a while and he wasn't putting full weight on his front right leg. Initially I thought that perhaps it was a soft tissue injury or arthritis. I took him to his chiropractor and she could feel heat in the joint and noted crepitus. When it wasn't getting better my vet started cartrophen injections. They seemed to help a bit. I was of the opinion if it was arthritis there wasn't much that could be done other than what I had been doing. Spice is on a variety of supplements - Vitamins B, C, E, Sashas blend, Joint Complex (Glucosamine and Chondroitin Sulfates with MSM), and salmon oil. I feed him a raw diet (Urban Wolf and Healthy Paws).

When Spice was due for another cartrophen injection I took him and the Clean Run article to my vet (Wednesday). I wanted to know if there was something more that could be done. My vet referred me a specialist. She called to let me know on Friday that Spice had an appointment with a surgeon on Monday. Spice had arthroscopic surgery on his elbow on Tuesday. When I picked up Spice on Wednesday I asked the surgeon if I could call what Spice had Jump Down Syndrome. He said it was likely that was what Spice had.

From the Clean Run article by Sherman O. Canapp Jr., DVM, MS, DACVS and Donald Hulse, DVM, DACVS (April 2008 p 78)

"Jump down syndrome" or traumatic fragmented medial coronoid process is a condition in the elbow joint of dogs that appears to occur commonly in performance dogs. Unlike the classic condition of fragmented medial coronoid process (FMCP) affecting the elbow joints of skeletally immature large to giant breeds of dogs, jump down syndrome (JDS) appears to have no age or size limitations.

They say that the cause isn't well understood but suspect that abnormal repetitive loading may cause microfractures of the bone. Landing from a jump, hitting contacts or a flyball box are given as examples. They also discuss other factors.

The treatment according to the authors is multimodal - medical, surgical and rehabilitation.

Arthroscopy - diagnosis and removal of bone fragments
Medical - pain killers, joint protective agents, etc.
Rehab - ice therapy, manual therapies, home exercise program, etc.

Basically as I understand it the bone fragments and pieces of it end up in the elbow joint. When the surgeon examined his right elbow manually it was sore. They took X-rays and found that Spice's right elbow joint didn't look right - possible fragments - fuzziness. His left elbow looked fine. During the arthroscopy the surgeon found pieces of bone in the joint (which he removed). We will have to see how Spice recovers since a fair amount of damage (moderate to severe osteoarthritis) was seen but the surgeon did what he could. I got to see the video of the surgery when I picked Spice up.

My goal is not to have Spice compete again but to make him more comfortable with every day life. If his recovery goes really well we may do some jumpers runs at his double drop height of 6". They do mention in the article that recovery is typically 2-3 months and "return to sport" 4-5 months.