Osteomyelitis of the atlanto-occipital region as a sequela to a pharyngealstick injury

An eight-year-old female Belgian shepherd dog was referred for investigatio n of chronic neck pain. The dog had sustained a pharyngeal injury 12 weeks previously while catching a stick. Radiographs of the cervical spine reveal ed signs consistent with a septic arthritis of the atlanto-occipital joint and osteomyelitis of both occipital condyles and the atlas. A foreign body was identified ultrasonographically in the retropharyngeal soft tissues, an d a stick was surgically removed from a site ventral to the right side of t he atlanto-occipital joint. The signs of neck pain started to resolve withi n a week of surgery.