Dog Blog 4

so dove had a TPLO surgery done. this is believed by many surgeons to be the most successful repair of a ruptured ACL in canines.
now for people a ruptured ACL is most often thot of as a sport injury and indeed is usually an acute injury for humans. BUT, no so for canines. for dogs that injure these ligaments it usually happens as a chronic injury that begins with osteoarthritis in their knee. they can show symptoms of lameness in a leg. xrays are not always definitive for soft tissue injuries so as for my dog nothing was seen on film back in March regarding her ACL or during a physical exam; unfortunately we found a dysplastic hip and some osteoarthritis in her knee---C L U E---but assumed these were the causes for her lameness. so when 'the injury' occurred it happened too easily and I knew then that this was a serous thing. what had been an ongoing tear then became a complete rupture. why the big deal?? cuz it meant significant, expensive surgery and a full 3 months for complete recovery.
this sketch shows where a bonecut was made in the head of the Tibia. the section was then rotated upwards and forward to sit in a more level position........