'How do I know my animal got better?' - measuring outcomes in small animal orthopaedics

摘要

There have been significant recent advances in measuring canine orthopaedic disease, both in the use of objective measures such as gait analysis and accelerometry, and in validated subjective measures. This article discusses the available methodology in measuring orthopaedic disease in companion animals, and aims to provide practitioners with tools that can be used in the clinic, as well as an understanding of the measures used in clinical research papers.