106 Canine Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation
● Prior level of functioning, for long‐term
goal or outcome projections, for safe and
appropriate progression of rehabilitation
activities, and for treatment planning.
● Home and work environment, including
barriers and/or the potential need for modi
fications during the rehabilitation episode
of care. (Additionally, knowledge about the
home environment can assist the therapist
in setting goals and selecting home exercise
program activities, e.g., using stairs for a
pelvic limb weight‐bearing exercise.)
● Client goals.
● Work or athletic training history, possible
causative factors (including overtraining
and client resistance to recovery periods
during training), work or athletic require
ments, and potential for return to work or
play.
The second step is the objective examination,
including outcome measurements, but also
importantly, an in‐depth analysis of move
ment. The objective examination might include
measurement of or description of:
● Measurement of passive range of motion
(PROM) with end‐feel and observation of
functional range of motion, which is used
during functional activities.
● Soft tissue flexibility, especially of multi‐joint
muscles (e.g., the hamstrings).
● Lameness/gait, including the use of
lameness scores or scales, or, if available,
kinematic documentation of gait charac
teristics (i.e., step length, stride length,
velocity, ground reaction forces, functional
range of motion).
● Neurological status, including level of
arousal, spinal reflexes, reactions, sensation,
pain sensation, sensory integration, coordi
nation, balance, and cranial nerve function.
● Functional mobility, including analysis of
movement strategies and assessment for the
potential use of assistive devices.
● Motor control and strength.
● Results of palpatory assessment for pain,
effusion, or edema, muscle tone, or muscle
spasm.
● Cardiovascular or cardiorespiratory sta
tus, aerobic capacity/endurance, including
baseline vital signs.
● Skin, nail, and fur or hair coat quality and
integrity and, if applicable, incisional healing
status.
● Joint motion, integrity, and stability via
accessory motion testing and other special
tests.Although the rehabilitation therapist is most
concerned with impairments and disability
related to the patient’s injury, the examination
can also be used to provide a working hypoth
esis and to gain an understanding of the patho
anatomic cause of the patient’s impairments
and disability. If possible, knowledge of the
differential diagnosis can guide the therapist
with regards to the proper management of the
patient’s injury. For example, a patient who pre
sents with pelvic limb lameness who is identi
fied as having a cranial cruciate ligament rupture
with medial meniscal involvement would war
rant a referral to a boarded surgeon, while one
who is identified as having a stable stifle, but a
painful muscle strain could be managed con
servatively through rehabilitation. Moreover,
knowledge of a definitive diagnosis will offer
more options with regards to use of potential
rehabilitation interventions. Many physical elec
tromagnetic and thermodynamic modalities are
contraindicated if malignancy is suspected.
In the case of a sports or traumatic injury,
based on the history, the impairments revealed
in the rehabilitation examination, and the
therapist’s knowledge and understanding of
the requirements of the functional or sports
activity, the therapist can reconstruct the crime
and guide recovery through rehabilitation to
include interventions that might help to pre
vent further injury or recurrence of the injury in
the future. Disability due to a canine sports‐
related injury will be specific to each individual
patient due to individual factors including
body structure and conformation, movement
strategies or habits used during functional or
sports activities (e.g., two‐on‐two‐off contacts
with the A‐frame in agility), and factors related
to the specific environment in which the injury
occurred (i.e., flooring surfaces, angle of incli
nation of a jump or turn).
In‐depth observation and analysis of move
ment, especially postures, transitions or trans
fers, and gait, can reveal evidence of movement
dysfunction secondary to the injury, causative of