Pano and surgery?? - Page 1

If it's pano it's self-limiting, but it could also be OCD which is sometimes surgically corrected:  http://www.provet.co.uk/petfacts/healthtips/osteochondrosis.htm 

X-rays will help distinguish between the two.

Regards,
Diane

They need to make sure they have their diagnosis correct.  If it's pano then I don't think surgery should be done.   Should re-evaluate the dog's diet, make sure it's not growing too fast.   Maybe the pup should be on some canine aspirin too, to help ease it's pain (or some other non-narcotic/non-steroid pain killer)

Thanks Diane. I really think the intermitten lameness, screaming one day bouncing around the next sounds more like Pano, but you don't know of course. I just hope they can read the x-rays. She did mention them sending them off to an ortho specialist, which I think will be best rather than try and diagnose themselves.

Euroshep - I already reviewed his diet with her a couple of months back because I was concerned that he was growing too fast.  Makes me even more sure it's pano. Her vet has put him on Rimadyl for pain relief which I am also not happy about! I don't like Rimadyl. Problem is, she thinks her vet is God, and I don't necessarily agree. I do know of him and I think he is an average vet, not outstanding, not bad.

Trouble is because of that she doesn't get specifics, she's not so 'into' the nuts and bolts like I am. She just listens to the vet and takes it as gospel. Wouldn't be so bad if she got specifics to relay back to me, but she is vague, she is so worried she misses half of what is said. She doesn't question the vet like I would either.  Don't get me wrong she is a wonderful owner and she loves this little (well rather big) young lad like you wouldn't believe.  She could have it wrong and have got various things mixed up. I really hope so, because I have never heard of any surgery for Pano.

I will mention the canine aspirin to her, rather than Rimadyl.

Aspirin isn't that safe, either. 

Buffered aspirin/Ascriptin is OK for dogs short term. It's really not a great idea to give a pup with pano a lot of pain relief as they tend to abuse themselves if they are feeling too well. Best to give enough to "take the edge off" but still keep the pain level high enough so that the dog rests. A major part of "curing" pano is resting the effect limb/s. 

Rimadyl, IMO no. If it were my dog, I'd wait it out and not opt for surgery.

Since 20% of GSD  and a larger percentage in some large breeds (Rottweiler etc) have elbow dysplasia I woudl definitely radiograph the elbows.  Some of the manifestations of elbow dysplasia (FCP and OCD) can be difficult to see on one view and require special views.  Elbow dysplasia in a pup presents in a variety of ways from stiffness to mild to moderate intermittent lameness.  Therefore I would rule that out before concluding it is panosteitis.

I've ever heard of surgery for pano. When we had dogs with pano, the treatment was always the same - forced rest 24/7, ascriptin, don't over feed, switch to an adult food. As someone else said, it is self limiting and self curing. We never dispensed the big guns like Rimadyl. Not a good idea for puppies IMO.

The hard part is convincing the owner that the dog should not be made too pain-free and not allowed to run and play. It will still heal but the dog will be in pain a lot longer without forced rest. My first GSD had pano, his was a shifting lameness. It took a good 5, 6 months before he stopped limping. Growing pains.....

Surgery would be my last option. Surgery for Pano would be like amputating the nose for a cold, the cold will go a way and so will the Pano!
We always treat with 3 days of Rimadyl (dosed per dog's size) and then stop the Rimadyl and cut back on activity (not totally limited). Always worked for us. We started this form of treatment after a young male we imported from Germany became totally lame from Pano. We contacted the seller in Germany to see if they had any advice and he told us this is the way they'd been treating Pano in Europe for some time. From what I understood the Rimadyl helped break up the inflammation just enough to start the healing, but any longer than about 3 days continuous use would then hinder healing as you need some level of inflammation for the body to be triggered to heal when all is said and done. 
In extreme cases, you can use the painkiller patches, you have to shave a section of hair to use the patches but it won't be permanent thing, unlike the surgery you described :0.

Has the dog been checked for HOD? Has there been a fever at all? HOD is also self limiting(except for in Great Danes and Weimaraners IIRC).