Midline myelotomy of the clinically normal canine spinal cord

Clinically normal dogs underwent dorsal laminectomy, durotomy, and full-thickness midline myelotomy between either the 1st and 2nd lumbar vertebrae or the 3rd and 4th lumbar vertebrae. The myelotomy was 1 1/2 vertebral bodies long and was performed with a microbalance spatula. Neurologic and histopathologic changes were recorded. Full-thickness midline myelotomy done by this technique was found to cause severe necrosis of spinal gray matter.