LUXAÇÃO DE PATELA EM CÃES: REVISÃO DE LITERATURA

Patellar luxation occurs when the kneecap is displaced from its normal anatomical shape, i.e., from the trochlear groove, and can result in complications that affect the dog’s health and quality of life in the long term. It is usually classified as lateral or medial. It mainly affects small dogs and may be congenital or due to trauma. Affected dogs present symptoms such as lameness, reluctance to walk or climb onto beds, sofas or stairs, pain in the pelvic limb or abnormal swelling of the limb. They also present in varying degrees, classified as grade 1, 2, 3 and 4. To diagnose patellar luxation, a physical evaluation is used, where the affected limb will be analyzed according to the symptoms reported. The treatment for patellar luxation is conservative or surgical. The choice of treatment will depend on the physical evaluation, i.e., it may be a surgical procedure or a less invasive method if it is grade I. The prognosis is clinical improvement, restoring the quality of locomotion, without presenting difficulties in walking. However, a small percentage of recurrence is not ruled out, taking into account characteristics such as breed, age at which treatment was performed and post-operative care. The constant advances in the area of ​​veterinary orthopedics increasingly provide safe and effective therapies for the treatment of this condition, providing a better quality of life for affected dogs.