The morphometric characteristic of the nerve structures of the lumbar spine in mongrel dogs

The study was carried out using 19 mongrel dogs at the age of 1,5-4 years. The experimental dogs were divided into 2 groups depending on their weight: group I consisted of 12 dogs the weight of which was 16-20 kg (♀ - 5, ♂ - 7), group II consisted of 7 dogs the weight of which was 22-30 kg (♀ - 2, ♂ - 5). Statistically significant differences were revealed in the length of some spine cord segments and roots. The dogs of group II had a larger size of the cranio-caudal segments at L 1, L 3-L 5 (p3-L 7 (p4-L 5 segments while those of the ganglia – at L 7. The gradual increase in the size of the spine cord roots and ganglia was noted in the caudal direction. The nervous structures of the lumbar spine were tensioned: after the spine cord was cut along segment L 1 upper border its displacement occurred 10-15 mm caudally and that of ganglia after their separation from the peripheral nerves – from 2-3 mm (L 1) to 15 –20 mm (L 7) cranially.