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…
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…
One of the benefits of the newest of the cranial cruciate repair surgeries, the TTA, is the length of time required before your dog can return to exercise and a life without restrictions. Because the ostoeotomy (cutting of the bone) in the tibial tuberosity advancement procedure is done in a non weight bearing area of…
For both humans and animals alike, any surgical procedure carries a risk of complications. You dog should have a full evaluation done, complete with blood work and other baseline testing, prior to surgery to help minimize any risks. Pre-surgical testing can often diminish the risk of death from anesthesia and other preventable complications related to…
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…
Your dog will be in a lot of discomfort upon their arrival home from surgery. This is especially true if their extracapsular repair was an out patient procedure, and they were released back into your care the same day of the surgery. It is important to follow all the instructions your veterinarian has provided for…
For both humans and animals alike, any surgical procedure carries a risk of complications. You dog should have a full evaluation done, complete with blood work and other baseline testing, prior to surgery to help minimize any risks. Pre-surgical testing can often diminish the risk of death from anesthesia and other preventable complications related to…
**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…
While it may carry an increased risk of complications, the recovery from TPLO surgery is often more rapid and complete. About half of all dogs undergoing the tibial plateau leveling osteotomy procedure will be able to walk on the injured limb within 24 hours of post operative recovery. Within 5 days post-op, most dogs will…
For both humans and animals alike, any surgical procedure carries a risk of complications. You dog should have a full evaluation done, complete with blood work and other baseline testing, prior to surgery to help minimize any risks; this pre-surgical testing can often diminish the risk of death from anesthesia. Overall, complications with cruciate surgery…