In contrast to human medicine, the significance of appropriate post‐operative care in companion animals is often neglected or even unknown. Physiotherapeutic exercises, also called physical therapies, are the golden standard of rehabilitation in human orthopaedics. In dogs and cats, such supportive therapies following surgery are rarely performed. Presently, physical therapeutic exercises, which are well established in man, are transferred to companion animals. However, there is no generally accepted scheme of procedures adequate to cats and dogs. Furthermore there is no study dealing with the exact effects of the various exercises performed with these species. Due to this paucity of information, the effect of several physical exercises concerning the lumbar spinal nerve roots transferred from man to the dog were assessed macroscopically. In ten euthanized healthy beagles up to eight years of age, the lumbar spine was surgically separated from adhering dorsal muscles. The lumbar nerve roots were visualized by removing the connective tissues surrounding the foramen intervertebrale. Nerve roots, i.e. spinal ganglia, were marked immediately outside the vertebral column applying a dot of yellow paint while the cadaver was in lateral recumbency. In man, for maximal sciatic nerve root movement the straight leg raising (SLR) (Maitland, 1986) exercise is applied on the patient lying on the back. For nervus femoralis movement the passive knee bending exercise is performed. In the dog, however, performing only the transferred SLR has a poor effect on L7. It can greatly be enhanced by a supplemental inward rotation of the hip joint by fixing the stifle joint and moving the lower leg medially. Concerning L4‐L6 nerve roots, the hip joint is maximally extended and the effect can be improved by an outward rotation of the leg. The results of the present study indicate that the simple transfer of physical exercises from man to companion animals does not result in identical results in the latter species. Modifications considering different anatomical conditions should be kept in mind if clinical results are poor.

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   |texte=   Anatomical Basis of Physiotherapeutic Treatment of Lumbar Spinal Nerve Disorders
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