At Veterinary Medical Associates, we have surgically repaired hundreds of cranial cruciate ruptures with a technique that allows a faster return to function for our patients compared with more common cruciate surgeries.
Extracapsular Surgery for Dogs: The Technique
With this technique, many of our patients are walking on the affected leg just two weeks after surgery, return to normal function in as little as four weeks, and are able to enjoy controlled exercise while recovering.
In our hands, this procedure has also been proven to show minimal post-surgical complications.
The technique used at Veterinary Medical Associates is an extracapsular (outside the joint capsule) repair that involves the implanting of a piece of synthetic material across the stifle (knee) joint to mimic the function of the cranial cruciate ligament. The implant is placed after the stifle is cleared of the ruptured cranial cruciate ligament and any of the meniscal (cartilage) tissue that also might have been torn in the injury.
There is another technique for repair of a ruptured cranial cruciate ligament that has become very popular, especially among veterinary surgeons, called a tibial plateau osteotomy, or TPLO. This complex procedure involves cutting the tibia (shin or lower leg bone) in half and reorienting it relative to the femur (upper leg bone). The tibia is then plated in place using a bone plate and screws. As one might suspect, this technique can have a higher degree of post-surgical complications especially when compared with the extracapsular repair. That coupled with the high degree of exercise restriction and a prolonged time to return of function make this technique less desirable for most of our dogs with ruptured cranial cruciate ligaments.
Speed of return to function needs to be an important consideration when deciding how you want your dog's cranial cruciate rupture to be repaired. Keep in mind the life span of a dog is much shorter than in humans and four months of their lives spent in recovery, as can be the case with a TPLO surgery, is significant.
Another important consideration for many clients faced with having their companion undergo surgery cranial cruciate surgery is cost. The TPLO procedure can cost over twice as much as the extracapsular repair we use here at Veterinary Medical Associates. This can sometimes mean the difference in a client being able to afford to repair their dog's injury or not.