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From: iayork@panix.com (Ian A. York)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: High-rise syndrome in dogs
Date: 31 Mar 1996 22:22:44 -0500

Undaunted by the reception of the "High-rise syndrome in cats" paper, I'm now posting the analagous paper for dogs. As with the former paper, credit goes to J. Paul "Putz' Woods, DVM, MSc, ACVIM for sending the papers to me.

Note that, as before, I'm only including a fraction of the paper, typing not being my strong point, and I presume that anyone who wishes to criticize the paper will read the whole thing first.

Here it is. Typos are mine.

High-rise syndrome in dogs: 81 cases (1985-1991)

Lori E. Gordon, DVM; Christopher Thatcher, DVM; Amy Kapatkin, DVM

The term "high-rise syndrome" was first used to describe a syndrome characterized by a specific triad of injuries suffered by cats falling out of windows in urban areas. One other report of this syndrome correlated type of injury and rate of occurrence with distance fallen. In the study reported here, we evaluated dogs that fell 1 or more stories for the purpose of defining high-rise syndrome in dogs. Included are diagnostic and treatment protocols, prognosis for survival, and similarities and differences between dogs, cats, and human beings sustaining free-fall injuries.

Criteria for selection of cases

The medical records of dogs admitted to The Animal Medical Center between January 1985 and May 1991 were reviewed. The records of 81 dogs sustaining free-falls of 1 story or more were selected for further evaluation. Each story equaled approximately 12 feet.

Materials and Methods

Data were compiled from the records ... The following information was obtained ... [type of dog, type of fall, type of injuries, type of treatment, and survival and condition at discharge ]

Results

The mean age was 3 years, 2 months ... Large-breed dogs accounted for 62% (50/81) of the study population. However, because the population of dogs examined at our hospital is not known, statements of prevalence cannot be made.

The mean height fallen was 2.8 stories (range, 1 to 6 stories). ... The landing surface was known in 63 dogs. Concrete landings (38%, 24/63) were most common, followed by roofs ((14%, 9/63) and grass (13%, 8/63). Other landing surfaces included dirt (5), bushes (4), asphalt (3), rocks (2), snow (1), garbage cans (1), a fire escape (1), a car roof (1), a bucket (1), an old sink (1), slate (1), and rubble (1). ...

The cause of fall ... was known for 52 dogs; 75% (39.52) jumped. the dogs were chasing squirrels ... or objects thrown during play. Several owners reported thunderstorms or fireworks incited the jump. The remaining 25% (13/52) of the falls were accidental, most attributed to slipping ... One dog fell through construction roofing beams. One dog (Pomeranian) was thrown out a window by the explosion of nitroglycerin being used by the owner to clean his guns, fell through the fire escape railing, and landed 5 stories below on some garbage cans. One owner suspected that her dog was thrown out the window by a child.

... Initial status was determined in 78 dogs ... Fifty-six percent (44/78) were stable, and 44% (34/78) were in life-threatening condition requiring emergency care ...

Initial status was not affected by any single one of the following factors: cause of fall (jumped or fell), surface landed on (hard or soft) or weight. Height of fall was a significant (P=0.00042) factor affecting initial status ... Statistically, dogs falling > 3 stories had a significant (P=0.0042) chance of sustaining life-threatening injuries.

     [A page and a half of description of injuries and treatment ]
     ...Height fallen was statistically significant, that is, falls of > 3

stories were more likely to result in the following injuries: thoracic injury, specifically, pulmonary contusions (P=0.01481) ... abdominal injury ... spinal injury ... and spinal cord injury (P=0.00795).

There was a 99% (80/81) survival rate. One dog was dead on arrival. Eight dogs were euthanized, 7 of which had falls from 4 to 6 stories: 5 were euthanized because of neurologic deficits of poor prognosis for recovery to a functional status satisfactory to the owner, 2 because of financial reasons, and the remaining dog because of failure to improve after 8 days of treatment.

Discussion

...The range of heights fallen by dogs was low (1 to 6 stories) compared with the range for cats (2 to 32 stories) and human beings (1 to 20 stories). However, dogs may not survive from falls >6 stories, and so such falls may not have been reported. Cats' survival from high free falls has been related to their righting reflex ability and the fact that they reach terminal velocity at 5 stories, allowing for relaxation and wider distribution of impact force.

...[description of injuries and treatment, comparison to cats and human beings ]

Free-fall injuries in children result mainly in cerebral concussion and skull fracture far more often than in other animals. Cats sustain primarily thoracic injury, facial trauma, and extremity fractures. The dogs in this study also sustained the triad of thoracic trauma, facial trauma, and extremity fractures, but the percentages and anatomic locations affected were different (Table 2). The head trauma seen in people is attributable to the secondary bounces causes impact to the skull. In children, the relatively large head size shifts their center of gravity craniad. Cats may similarly sustain secondary impacts of their rostrum after initial impact is distributed over a 4-footed landing. Most facial trauma in dogs consists of minor soft tissue abrasions. Less serious head trauma in dogs than cats might be attributable to the larger size and strength of their limbs, which have a greater capacity to absorb the energy of impact, thus decreasing secondary impacts to the head. ...

... We speculate that the dogs that fell > 3 stories may have had a tendency to tumble, landing on their back or in a vertical position, tail first, producing more spinal injury (P=0.01478).

[ same sort of comments as in the cat paper about factors influencing outcome - height, landing surface, air drag etc ]

... Even height fallen is not the absolute determinant of injury and likelihood of survival. Our clinical impression was that dogs that landed on hard surfaces had more serious injuries than those that landed on soft surfaces. ...

We recommend that dogs with histories of having fallen heights of 1 story or more be treated initially for shock and evaluated for thoracic trauma. After stabilization, a thorough orthopedic and neurologic examination should be performed. If response to emergency treatment is poor, visceral injury (abdominal and thoracic) with possible hemorrhage should be considered.

References
[ 13 references not included ]