Torn Cruciate Ligament

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chica_2626
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Torn Cruciate Ligament

Post by chica_2626 »

Hi all,

My five year old chow (maybe mix, he was a stray so can't be sure) has ruptured his cruciate ligament.

I am trying to figure out the best course of action, and thought I'd reach out to see what others had been through. Did some searching on the forum but didn't see much that people had gone the lateral suture route.

Some background on JD. He is about five and a half years old, just under sixty pounds, no other health issues to speak of. Hips and such look good. He's a decently active dog, likes to go hiking. I'd like to get him as back to normal as possible, though I do realize he's never going to be completely the same. I met with a vet that will perform the lateral suture repair, and feels that he could be a good candidate for it. My original vet had referred us to a practice that has an orthopedic specialist, which would perform a TTA procedure.

The vet that would do the lateral suture said she feels the end results are similar between the two surgeries, just that the lateral suture is a longer and a little tougher recovery up front. But she said six months down the road she feels stability wise, arthritis wise, etc are very similar.

Has anyone had the lateral suture procedure done on their chow? I want to make the best choices for JD, but I am also trying to be cost conscious as well. The lateral suture would run about $700, and the TTA is $3000-3500. That's quite a difference. If I dive myself into such a higher expense, I want to be certain it is worth the while.

Thanks in advance for any and all advice.
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Laura
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Re: Torn Cruciate Ligament

Post by Laura »

I have no experience with the lateral suture but my Chloe had Tplo surgery a few years ago. I'm not a fan of regular vets for complicated specialty things so we went to a orthopedic specialist. The surgery was around $2750 but worth it IMO. She has severe hip dysplasia as well so I wasn't going to fool around. She recovered well but it was a long staged process. I followed the post op orders pretty closely because there is something like a 65% chance they will tear the opposite leg ACL by compensating for the injury. I also went through it with a previous Chow who ruptured his when he was very old. We chose conservative treatment over surgery due to his age. It too required 6 weeks plus of confinement/treatment. I have a post op thread titled hip dysplasia, torn acl, oh my if you search.
Please let us know what you choose. I'm very interested in learning more about the procedure you mention. Torn acls are all too common and new treatments are good to know.
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Chloe (left) Shuggy (right)
Chow Tribe
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Re: Torn Cruciate Ligament

Post by Chow Tribe »

One of my chows had a torn cruciate and I did the surgery. Restriction after and MSM ,glucosamine,chrondotin supplemts for dogs.
She recovered well. I think the full on operation will be more successful in the long term.Good luck.
rmb
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Re: Torn Cruciate Ligament

Post by rmb »

Whatever you chose, I hope JD is recovering well. My Buddy2 had a partial tear 2 years ago. We chose conservative management under the care of a homeopathic vet with lots of supplements and so far, I am glad we did. He zooms around like nothing happened. I know he will deal with some arthritis later in life but the very intrusive TPLO surgery our regular vet recommended (he said it was a full tear - wrong) is not always a sure thing either.
Please let us know how JD is doing.
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