Dog Limping After Stem Cell Treatment

[BigDaz]

I am just after some feedback on what could be wrong.

My girl had Stem Cell Treatment using donor cells on Friday on her elbow, today she is limping quite badly. She was limping on Saturday and Sunday but it seemed to be getting better, but today it is obviously worse than yesterday.

We rang the vet today and they said to try Anti-Inflammatory’s for a couple of days and then if it is not better to book her in. I am going to book her in for Thursday regardless.

She has Stem Cell treatment before and limped for maybe one day.

Does anyone have any ideas if this could be considered normal, or what could likely have gone wrong during treatment to cause damage?

[Mason_Gibbs]

My vet doesn't like stem cell treatment due to the risk of infection. It could be that there is an infection brewing there...

[BigDaz]

My vet doesn't like stem cell treatment due to the risk of infection. It could be that there is an infection brewing there...

Would there be any outward signs of infection.

[Inevitablue]

There could be a minimal chance of infection, the cells are delivered into the joint so vets are advised to sterile prep the joint before injecting. This includes full clip and scrub. Is the area shaved? The cells themselves are screened and have no nastie's lurking.

Also, use of NSAID's like Rimadyl and Metacam are not encouraged, so it could just be the joint has flared up in response to the injection. Using some Anti inflammatory's to see if she gets better isn't the end of the world, and by now the cells would have been attracted to the chemotastic signalling from her elbow.

Lastly, depending on the size of the dog the joint might have 'over filled' with the cells and just needs a few days to settle down. They have done this in humans. Imagine the joint capsules being an enclosed space, so there is only much fluid it can take.

Good you have booked into the vet just to make sure. A course of antibiotics wouldn't hurt.

[BigDaz]

There could be a minimal chance of infection, the cells are delivered into the joint so vets are advised to sterile prep the joint before injecting. This includes full clip and scrub. Is the area shaved? The cells themselves are screened and have no nastie's lurking.

Also, use of NSAID's like Rimadyl and Metacam are not encouraged, so it could just be the joint has flared up in response to the injection. Using some Anti inflammatory's to see if she gets better isn't the end of the world, and by now the cells would have been attracted to the chemotastic signalling from her elbow.

Lastly, depending on the size of the dog the joint might have 'over filled' with the cells and just needs a few days to settle down. They have done this in humans. Imagine the joint capsules being an enclosed space, so there is only much fluid it can take.

Good you have booked into the vet just to make sure. A course of antibiotics wouldn't hurt.

Thanks for the reply.

The area is shaved.

There does not seem to be any obvious redness or swelling.

It was done on Friday, would over filling still be present, the limping is worse today. Could there be any permenant damage from over filling?

[Inevitablue]

No, even in the human trials when they 'blew' the knee the joint settled down after a few days. No long term damage. The knee joints seemed to 'lock' for a few days until the joint stablized the appropriate fluid levels. The humans still received the benefits of the stem cells.

If you are concerned about an infection, call your vet and see if they will prescribe her some antibiotics tomorrow. Better to get started on them if that is the problem.

Some vets send all dogs home on a course of Amoxicillin as standard practice, while others don't. Doesn't mean it's bad that some don't, we just leave it up to the vet to decide each individual case. Different joints, amounts, prep etc etc. Good to hear the elbow is shaved :)