This preliminary study has investigated the outcome of physiotherapy in 10 dogs affected by a primary lesion of the iliopsoas muscle and the potential effects of sex, age, and breed on recovery. Ten dogs with primary injury of the iliopsoas muscle were retrospectively included in this study. Dogs were submitted to a rehabilitation program, characterized by a multimodal approach, including physical therapies and modalities. After recovery, patients were submitted to a further support period of rehabilitation to promote muscle strengthening and limit injury recurrence during their return to normal functional and sports activity. Border collies were highly represented. The recovery of lameness occurred after a mean of 22.6 ± 14.7 (median 18) days with a median number of five sessions. None of the examined variables affected the recovery time, except for the border collie breed, which showed a significantly faster recovery time; however, there was no difference between the breeds with regard to the number of sessions. Multimodal rehabilitation therapy may promote lameness recovery of mild-to-moderate iliopsoas lesions within 3 weeks. This preliminary study reports a clinical approach and recovery of primary iliopsoas lesions, findings that can provide clinicians with useful prognostic information for dogs involved in sports activities.
Keywords: border collies; dog; iliopsoas muscle; muscle injury; rehabilitation.