Lumbar myelography in 79 dogs, using different puncture sites

Lumbar myelography was performed in 79 dogs either before spinal surgery or as part of an investigation of neurological disease. In small dogs the site of the puncture was between L1 and L5, avoiding the lumbosacral intumescence, whereas in large dogs the site was between T13 and L2. It was found that a lumbar puncture cranial to the lumbar intumescence was easier and caused no problems. The lumbar puncture was unsuccessful in three obese dogs. In 72 per cent of the cases the myelogram revealed a lesion, and the main cause of a non-diagnostic myelogram was epidural leakage.