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Is My Dog a Candidate for Tightrope Surgery?

By on February 5, 2009 in Surgical Procedures, Tightrope Repair

The newest surgical technique to repair torn cranial cruciate ligaments in dogs is the tightrope procedure.  Tightrope CCL is an extracapsular technique which uses lateral suture stabilization in conjunction with a virtually indestructible material called FiberTape for knee joint stabilization.  The Fiber Tape is placed in the dog’s knee through a few small incisions, mostly [...]

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Compare CCL Surgery Options for Dog Ligament

Tightrope Surgery vs. Extracapsular or Traditional Repair

By on February 5, 2009 in Surgical Procedures

How is Tightrope CCL Different from Extracapsular Imbrication or Traditional Repair? The major difference between extracapsular imbrication/traditional repair methods and tightrope ccl is the way in which the knee joint is stabilized.  In a traditional CCL repair, a leader line (suture, or you can also think of this as a fishing line) is woven across [...]

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Tightrope CCL Surgery Recovery

By on February 4, 2009 in Surgical Procedures, Tightrope Repair
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Tightrope CCL Procedure

By on September 9, 2008 in Surgical Procedures, Tightrope Repair

The Tightrope CCL repair surgery is the newest surgical option available for dogs with cranial cruciate ligament injury.  Unlike in humans, canine CCL tears and damage generally takes place over a period of months or years, rather than being associated with a single traumatic event.  Because of the nature of these injuries, and their degenerative [...]

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CCL Injury in Both Back Legs

By on June 15, 2008 in Non-Surgical Options, Surgical Procedures

It is not unusual for dogs who have a cranial cruciate ligament rupture in one leg to develop one in the other leg. It is a little unusual to have two severe ruptures at the same time, but it does occur, especially in large breed dogs or overweight canines. Generally the signs of this type [...]

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Does My Dog Need a Meniscus?

By on May 30, 2008 in Surgical Procedures

When there is a joint injury like a cranial cruciate ligament (CCL) rupture, it is important for the vet to try to preserve the menisci to the greatest extent possible. Loss of all or part of a stifle’s meniscus has the potential to accelerate the breakdown of articular cartilage with resultant DJD (Degenerative Joint Disease). [...]

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Questions to Ask Your Vet Prior to CCL Surgery

By on May 8, 2008 in Surgical Procedures

If you and your veterinarian have decided to take surgical approach – TTA, TPLO, TTO, traditional/extracapsular/lateral suture repair, Tightrope – to correcting your dog’s cranial cruciate ligament rupture, you will want to be prepared for what to do prior to your dog’s knee surgery. The following checklist will provide a general idea of talking points [...]

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TPLO vs. TTA for Cranial Cruciate Ligament Repair

By on May 1, 2008 in Surgical Procedures, TPLO, TTA

TPLO, or tibial plateau leveling osteotomy, and TTA, or tibial tuberosity advancement, are two very new and biomechanically similar surgical techniques. Both the TPLO and TTA create stability within the dog stifle by altering the angle of the knee and using implants to hold the knee in place while the joint heals in its new [...]

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TTA Surgical Procedure

By on May 1, 2008 in Surgical Procedures, TTA

TTA is the abbreviation for tibial tuberosity advancement.  The TTA is among the newer techniques for cranial cruciate ligament repair of the canine stifle, making its appearance roughly 10 years ago. The TTA technique was developed in 2002 at the University of Zurich, and, biomechanically speaking, the procedure is very similar to the TPLO, without [...]

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Extracapsular Imbrication Surgery, Traditional Repair Procedure

By on April 30, 2008 in Surgical Procedures, Traditional Repair

**UPDATE 2/2011 – The information below regarding UPenn Veterinary’s stance on TPLO surgeries is no longer correct. UPenn is, in fact, performing TPLOs on dogs. I will keep up the link to the article below discussing their previous stance toward TPLO so that people may have access to all of the information. Everything else in [...]

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