Tarsal Arthrodesis.

[Blackdogs]

So it seems that my dog may need a tarsal arthrodesis operation. This is an expensive specialist operation which involves fusing the joint. He has torn several ligaments in his leg.

Anybody here have any experience with this operation? I would be interested in hearing about your experience and will gladly consider any advice.

Thanks in advance.

[KJ]

My Lab Henrietta has had a tarsal arthrodesis.She had very bad OCD/arthritis of her hock and arthrodesis was the only way to take away her pain. It is a salvage procedure and it not a common surgery. It involves the surgeon getting into the joint, and removing the articular cartilage then plating it so the join will become one solid bone. For Henrietta it involved 2 nights in hospital and then 12 weeks rest with the first 6 weeks in a cast. The cast required changing each week. She was not crated the whole time just kept on the lead. Probably cost around $4000 for the specialist surgery, cast changes, follow up xrays, removal of plate etc (thank goD for pet insurance)!!

She did need further surgery to help with the fusion which required more time in a cast(and another $4000) but now nearly 18 months since her last surgery she is like a new dog, so happy and pain free ! She can run, jump and play just like a normal Lab, something I never thought she would be able to do. She is very, very active and is not at all hindered by her fused joint. Having a fused joint is not really as bad as it sounds

Which specialist have you seen?

[Blackdogs]

My Lab Henrietta has had a tarsal arthrodesis.She had very bad OCD/arthritis of her hock and arthrodesis was the only way to take away her pain. It is a salvage procedure and it not a common surgery. It involves the surgeon getting into the joint, and removing the articular cartilage then plating it so the join will become one solid bone. For Henrietta it involved 2 nights in hospital and then 12 weeks rest with the first 6 weeks in a cast. The cast required changing each week. She was not crated the whole time just kept on the lead. Probably cost around $4000 for the specialist surgery, cast changes, follow up xrays, removal of plate etc (thank goD for pet insurance)!!

She did need further surgery to help with the fusion which required more time in a cast(and another $4000) but now nearly 18 months since her last surgery she is like a new dog, so happy and pain free ! She can run, jump and play just like a normal Lab, something I never thought she would be able to do. She is very, very active and is not at all hindered by her fused joint. Having a fused joint is not really as bad as it sounds

Which specialist have you seen?

Thanks for your reply. Great to hear she did so well after the operation! Did you find the rehabilitation side of things difficult? Was there a lot of muscle wastage? How did you find her other leg coped with the added pressure? I'm going to get it done at Southpaws, but Charles Kuntz is away so another vet will be doing it. I'm probably going to go in for it tomorrow. I am very nervous as my dog does not respond well to anaesthetic. Can you tell me more about the complications you had? Do you find that the joint moves differently to the non-fused joint? Did your dog develop pressure sores? Sorry for all the questions, this is foreign territory for me.

I really hope he will get back to 100% as he is a performance dog.

[KJ]

Henrietta coped very well with the rehab, for the first 6 weeks she was crated but after that was confined in the house but on the lead most of the time.

She did have little pressure sores, that is why the cast needs to be changed weekly.

About few months after the surgery, the plate begain to irritate Henrietta, so after more xrays it was decided to remove it. She began to limp a few days after the surgery and after more xrays it was discovered that a tiny joint had returned to motion so the procedure needed to be repeated.

Not much muscle wastage in her leg. The fused joint does look different and she does move differently on that leg. She looks slightly limpy....but has no pain.

What sort of dog and what sports do you do? YOur dog will not move the same way as he did before.

[Blackdogs]

Henrietta coped very well with the rehab, for the first 6 weeks she was crated but after that was confined in the house but on the lead most of the time.

She did have little pressure sores, that is why the cast needs to be changed weekly.

About few months after the surgery, the plate begain to irritate Henrietta, so after more xrays it was decided to remove it. She began to limp a few days after the surgery and after more xrays it was discovered that a tiny joint had returned to motion so the procedure needed to be repeated.

Not much muscle wastage in her leg. The fused joint does look different and she does move differently on that leg. She looks slightly limpy....but has no pain.

What sort of dog and what sports do you do? YOur dog will not move the same way as he did before.

Thanks so much for your reply. My dog had his operation on Monday and came out of it very well. Everything went smoothly, about which I am shocked and relieved.

Did Henrietta have the whole hock joint fused? My dog only had the lower part of the joint fused and the specialist believes that if all goes to plan he should recover most of his agility. I am hoping that this is the case. Obviously they couldn't give me any guarrantees, but the part he had fused is not responsible for much movement in the hock.

[KJ]

Glad the surgery went well. What how long does hehave to spend in a cast?

Will he actually have some movement in the joint.

Henrietta's hock is fully fused....no movement at all.

This is what her hock looked after her first surgery, and then after the second surgery, notice how all the little joint spaces have become one solid bone.

[Blackdogs]

Glad the surgery went well. What how long does hehave to spend in a cast?

Will he actually have some movement in the joint.

Henrietta's hock is fully fused....no movement at all.

This is what her hock looked after her first surgery, and then after the second surgery, notice how all the little joint spaces have become one solid bone.

Very interesting. Thanks for your responses. With my dog, the plate starts much lower down. In a very unusual case, everything was perfectly in tact except he'd ruptured all the ligaments in the lower tarsal area. This means that only the lower part of the joint was fused and fortunately this doesn't account for much of the flexibility in the joint. The specialist thinks that he should regain fairly normal movement once the healing has taken place.

He will have to spend eight weeks in the cast, with weekly changes.