My dog tore her ACL

Vet here (general vet, not board-certified surgeon). TPLO is not extreme. It is considered standard of care for cruciate surgery in medium to large breed dogs. Your pup should not need to be crated for 4 months after a TPLO. If your vet is saying 4 months crate rest, I would get a second opinion. One of the benefits of TPLO is a faster return to function and less of a need for rest (because the bone is plated rather than held in place by a tiny string) than lateral suture. There is still some postoperative rest but generally physical therapy starts a few weeks after TPLO.

I have done many lateral suture repairs in larger dogs whose owners could not afford TPLO and generally, the results are not as good as TPLO in medium to large dogs. They are acceptable, but studies show TPLO is superior. For my own 40# dog, I elected TPLO over lateral suture.

The info you have about lateral suture being quicker recovery is incorrect. TPLO recovery is a quicker recovery. In fact, very active dogs I strongly recommend TPLO - because if they are overactive it doesn't take much force to break a suture, but it takes a LOT of force to break a plate.

J

What a coincidence this subject came up on letsrun. My dog recently tore her "ACL" (for dogs it is cranial cruciate ligament). My dog is also 45 pounds and after a lot of research and talking to the veterinary surgeon we decided to go with TPLO.

jess from crabtown wrote:

Vet here (general vet, not board-certified surgeon).

J

Thank you for your service, sir.

This is interesting as my vet agreed that the TPLO recovery is longer in that the dog needs to be extremely limited for a long time for if they break plate, or something goes wrong, the dog is in big trouble, so you need to be cautious to the extreme. What I meant to convey is that the TPLO feels extreme in my case... since my dog is older and really really lazy. If my dog were 3 and super active, I totally get the TPLO is the best choice.... but I'm having a hard time believing that it's best for my dog at her age and activity level.

Shart Tank Abbott wrote:

jess from crabtown wrote:

Vet here (general vet, not board-certified surgeon).

J

Thank you for your service, sir.

lol.

Veterinary surgeon here. Look, I can say this because this is anonymous lol. There is a reason they call it "Totally Profitable Leg Operation". Recent studies have actually shown that the TPLO, TTA, and lateral imbrication all have about the same results at 6 months out. The TPLO does offer more stability early on, but if you follow the confinement and PT protocol, there is NO REASON to do a TPLO in a 45 pound dog. I have done hundreds of lateral imbrications, and they are problematic only if there is non-compliance in regards to cage confinement and controlled leash-walking after the surgery.

I also have a problem with breaking bone to fix a ligament. It seems extreme to me, and I do all kinds of orthopedic surgeries. For comparison, I work in the southeast, and a Securos/lateral suture costs $1000 and a TPLO is about $3000. So you could actually do 3 suture surgeries before you paid for a TPLO.

I recently did a knee on a friend's dog, who happens to be a boarded soft tissue surgeon/veterinarian. He had read the studies, and he came to the conclusion that there was no reason to do a TPLO over the suture. Also, his dog is 80 lbs and doing great 8 months out. Just find someone who does a bunch of stifle surgery, and your pup will be fine.

Hope that helps!

Our dog had one ACL go at 6-7 years old, then we got TPLO. The other one went within a year and we had the same procedure done. $2500 each time and I was happy with that as it seemed cheap given the procedure. Now he has two titanium knees.

He's about 90 lbs and large frame so fairly lean for a dog his size. Very happy we got the surgery as he seems to be ok with the knees now..though he will never be the same as he was prior to surgery he can still run around the yard and chase deer.

We trusted our vet and he made the right call for us. We didn't crate him for four months but instead restricted walking and stair climbing for maybe 2 months.

Shart Tank Abbott wrote:

jess from crabtown wrote:

Vet here (general vet, not board-certified surgeon).

J

Thank you for your service, sir.

Ctfu I needed this. Also when I hear about a dog tearing an ACL, I can't help thinking they got crossed over in basketball so that's how I imagine it lol

Thank you for your response, it is truly appreciated. The numerous folks I've spoken with who have been through this all opted for lateral suture on their dogs that were bigger and younger than mine, and years later they are all fine. I understand nothing is without risk, but I'm going lateral suture. Tough part has been finding someone to do it. Thanks again.

exthrower wrote:

My vet told me the same thing about my young Airedale. We scheduled the surgery and on the way home I decided to get a second opinion. Second vet said to hold off for 2 weeks and see what happens. 3-4 days later my dog was chasing jackrabbits full speed and never had anymore problems.

wow. exthrower, glad to see you love somebody or something.

goodpoints wrote:

exthrower wrote:

My vet told me the same thing about my young Airedale. We scheduled the surgery and on the way home I decided to get a second opinion. Second vet said to hold off for 2 weeks and see what happens. 3-4 days later my dog was chasing jackrabbits full speed and never had anymore problems.

wow. exthrower, glad to see you love somebody or something.

I'm a Jewish libertarian and have seen exthrower's posts. Some are inflammatory but mostly he makes sense and seems humane.

Well, previous dog, a very active and strong black lab, blew out both several years apart. We did the more expensive surgery (titanium plate) the first time as he was 4 or 5, the second time we did the kevlar sutures as he was 10 or so and never had any issues with either. The dog lived a very happy and active life. Certainly worth it.

I found Derrick Rose's dog!