TPLO Surgery For Dogs & A Torn CCL
TPLO Surgery
At Animal Hospital Maple Orchard, surgery is performed every weekday. This includes soft tissue surgery, basic surgery, and orthopedic surgery. When considering the types of orthopedic surgery that we perform a TPLO is the #1 surgery we do.
We also have the ability to perform fracture repairs, luxating patella repairs, femoral head and neck osteotomy (FHO), and lateral sutures (MLP).
What is a TPLO surgery?
A TPLO surgery is the procedure we use to repair a torn cranial cruciate ligament in the rear leg of large dogs. This procedure is explained in the above video by Dr. Timothy Guild and is highlighted by making the stifle stable using an osteotomy procedure.
How does a pet injure the CCL (cranial cruciate ligament)?
The most commonly understood way the CCL ligament is injured is from trauma. The knee in the dog is called a stifle. When the front ligament in the stifle is stressed from high impact trauma (jumping, falling, accident, etc) the front ligament can be strained, stretched, or torn. If the CCL ligament is injured then you may be having your veterinarian recommending a consult for surgery.
What is the best test to see if my dog has a torn CCL?
X-rays are necessary to evaluate the bones of the rear leg in a dog prior to surgery. These should be performed at the time of the injury by a veterinarian. We offer digital radiographs which take 10 minutes and are easily read by the attending vet.
This is the most common diagnostic test ran on a rear leg injury, but it doesn’t visualize that actual ligament itselft. The x-ray would be supportive along with the examination by a veterinary professional evaluating for instability.
My dog has a torn CCL, now what?
If your dog has been evaluated and diagnosed with a torn CCL. The next steps are to consult a vet who can help with your dogs ortho injury. If your dog is medium to large in size then the TPLO is the current #1 option for your dogs CCL tear.
What are the steps to a TPLO surgery?
The TPLO surgery is difficult and most vets do not perform this procedure. There are board certified specialist who can perform this as well as general practice DVM’s who have gone through extensive training to be capable or performing this surgery.
The first steps to the surgery are evaluating the CCL ligament itself. This assumes proper anesthetic pretesting and preperation has been performed. When evaluating the CCL ligament, full tears or strains are part of the decision making key points during the surgery. The meniscus is evaluated and addressed if needed.
The next step is why the TPLO is called an osteotomy procedure. After performing specific measurements to calculate the exact rotation, the tibia is then cut with a saw with a orthopedic specific tool to then rotate the proximal portion.
The final step is when the implant quality stainless-steel tibial plate and screws are used to finalize the placement of the tibia.
