Torn Anterior Cruciate Ligament (acl) - Golden Retriever.

[BellaDawg]

Hi All

Just wondering if ayone's best mate has undergone ACL surgery? My poor gal has suffered a minor tear in her left rear ACL, it's enough for her to feel the pain and her leg is wasting as she's using more of her right leg to compensate. We got a referal to a specialist and it looks like we're going to have her operated on to correct the problem.

There are several types of ACL correction and each type dependant on the size of dog and severity of the tear. Surgery aside, I'm just looking for some re-assurance from others out there who's best mate has undergone the surgery and how they have pulled out of it? Did it work for your pal?

BellaDawg is only 20 months old so she needs the surgery to help a young and energetic goldie get around without the pain. It's going to be a long 6 months of rehabilation!

All comments welcome.

Thanks all.

Nick

[lucknow]

My Hugo is about the same age and is 2 1/2 weeks post op after a partial tear. It is obviously far too early to start to assess in terms of 'success' for us and it has already been a slightly hair raising experience trying to comply with the after care restrictions but doing a search on the topic gave lots of reassurance that we were far from the only ones that have gone through this.

My boy was not a candidate for De Angelis, too heavy and had complicating conformation problems (in fact I think the specialist should have given me a discount for the excitement he got from treating this 'challenging case' as he put in his surgery report back to my vets and for using Hugos case for upcoming lectures, never seen anyone move so quick as when he ran for his video camera, he shot off so fast I literally didnt see him go ). Hugo had pins, TPLO and a wedge of artificial bone in the tibia. He's a bionic boy now..

All I can console myself with atm is that without this surgery Hugos life would have sooner rather than later become a fairly miserable existence and that alone would have resulted in premature death as he suffered more and more pain and physical restrictions.

Get your house set up beforehand with a really dogproof enclosure, buy in lots of bones, kongs, whatever you think will provide a distraction (we rotate lots to try to reduce boredom) and remind yourself you arent mad if you find yourself taking the dog for a drive when both of you are at your wits end. We've taken the opportunity to increase Hugos training also (OK, pretty much start his training, I'm a lazy Mum and my dogs bad manners are direct result of that). Lots of stuff is out of bounds but I figure we can try a few tricks for the mental stimulation that dont put pressure or unnecesary movement on the knee - theres lots of ideas in the training forum! We also have sedatives on hand for those really desperate times, if all else fails I may need to take 1 or 2 myself..

Good luck, I hope it all goes well

[Rottifan]

Maybe try a chiropractor first - check out the testimonials at www.######.com - lots of people had the operations for same and had no results and then found it was a pinched nerve in the dogs back or found that with chiropractic adjustments keeping their dog in alignment they are able to walk properly again and build that wasted muscle back up to hold their own bones in place. You just never know! Good luck...

[westiemum]

Yep Belladawg - veteran of three ACL procedures here and two different procedures - all in the same dog (Westie boy at 7 years then at 10 years for the second and third ops)

The first one was a De Angelis - and that worked brilliantly on the left leg at age 7. The second on the right was a De Angelis and that failed within two weeks of surgery. Discovered a conformation problem in the back right leg which was probably the cause of the De Angelis failure so back we went to a specialist surgeon - this time for a tibial wedge - an op usually reserved for bigger dogs. Similar to lucknow, Mac had to have his back right leg conformation corrected and a steel plate inserted. And its been a raging success. He's even using stairs which he wouldn't tackle at all in the past - used to sit plaintively at the bottom of stairs until someone carried him up! Bounded up the stairs like a puppy at the beach a few weeks ago. Couldn't believe my eyes.

I respect the people who decide on a 'wait and see' or natural therapies approach - but in my experience this is a structural problem that I can't see resolving it self or responding to other therapies. And it is so important to a dog's normal movement. So I believe a structural problem demands a structural solution (ie surgery) - and is warranted 99 times out of 100.

Good luck and hope that helps.

Edited February 20, 2011 by westiemum

[SilverHaze]

I had a TPLO done on my 8 year extremely energetic siberian in november - he tore his completely (the vet said afterwards it was well and truly gone when they went in and saw it). He has come through with flying colours. A week after the surgery and the vets were amazed at how well he was doing. These days he's moving around like it never happened.

What is important is to have the surgery done ASAP to ensure that the additional pressure placed on their good leg is minimised. The longer you leave your dog relying on their good leg, the more pressure you a putting on that leg and the more likely it is that they will end up tearing that cruciate ligament as well. I had my boy operated on within 2 weeks of having torn it.

Make sure it is a surgeon who has alot of experience with the surgery (mine was recommended by my chiro who first diagnosed the tear).

I'm not saying the aftercare will be easy - but you and your dog will survive and be better for it once she's better

[Golden Rules]

And another veteran of 2 ACLs here, on my Golden. He had the De Angelis method each time. He is a big Goldie and I was hesitant about the type of op after doing some research but my vet was confident, and more than 2 years on, he doesn't even limp anymore.

He is not allowed to jump up anymore though and his exercise is walking, trotting and swimming. No chasing balls etc and no jumping other than onto the sofa which isn't high.

There was a Yahoo group (ortho dogs or something) which was a fabulous resource with loads of support.

Best of luck with your girl!

[Kelly_Louise]

My Chloe (now 13yo) had a tibial wedge osteotomy done on both her knees (at age 8). It was a fantastic success. The aftercare was difficult at times and time consuming - but if I had to do it again, I certainly would. The results were amazing and gave her back her quality of life. Five years on, apart from arthritis, she gets around pretty good for an old girl and can outrun a younger dog if there is some incentive involved

Being a heavier/larger dog, I would opt for the osteotomy type surgeries - they are more stable and suited to larger breed dogs, and I believe the success rate is alot higher for larger breeds.

Please be aware that the after care is every bit as crucial to the success, as the operations themselves.

Best of luck!

[Quickasyoucan]

I had a TPLO done on my 8 year extremely energetic siberian in november - he tore his completely (the vet said afterwards it was well and truly gone when they went in and saw it). He has come through with flying colours. A week after the surgery and the vets were amazed at how well he was doing. These days he's moving around like it never happened.

What is important is to have the surgery done ASAP to ensure that the additional pressure placed on their good leg is minimised. The longer you leave your dog relying on their good leg, the more pressure you a putting on that leg and the more likely it is that they will end up tearing that cruciate ligament as well. I had my boy operated on within 2 weeks of having torn it.

Make sure it is a surgeon who has alot of experience with the surgery (mine was recommended by my chiro who first diagnosed the tear).

I'm not saying the aftercare will be easy - but you and your dog will survive and be better for it once she's better

I had a TPLO done at Sydney University Vet hospital on my stafford x in October. We did try conservative management for about 6 months but the problem just waxed and waned. Given my time again I would probably have had the op done sooner as I do worry about the strain put on the other leg.

I think the first 2 weeks post op(before the stitches came out) were the hardest. After that it was just a case of keeping him quiet and after the all clear at 8 weeks gradually building up exercise. We are back to full exercise now and and no problems at all. I would say his gait is slightly different (but the TPLO does change the biomechanics of the knee). He didn't even really get any swelling post op and I had read some real horror stories.

Most importantly my boy is now pain free when he used to be quite obviously standing with his weight on 3 legs toe pointing and at times clearly in pain.

I am very glad I had it done.

I think with bigger dogs the TPLO or TTA are the recommended route (depending on which procedure your dogs anatomy is most suited to). Generalist vets still do seem to do the de angelis method though even on larger dogs, not sure about failure rates though.

[BellaDawg]

Well it's now 4 week after the TPLO. She's doing well but talk about hard in keeping her still, I'm now worried she's going to damage something else as she's skids along our wooden floors. We have placed rugs and mats everywhere so she can get up without each of her legs going in different directions. Young goldies...Sigh!

Anyway just a thanks to all that responded as your comments were valuable did made me a little less anxious about the whole ordeal.

Nick