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My 10 year old dog had surgery to repair a torn ACL, and the doctor had just started performing a new technique by repairing the ligament with a tightrope.
It has been four months, and my dog still favors the leg some, but not often. Has anyone had a longer-term experience with this?
I'm sorry...our experience is with TTA (Tibial Tuberosity Advancement) for the acl repair. Our dog is now 40 days post surgery. If you want to discuss her progess in comparison to your dog, I will gladly do so, but I know that's not what you are looking for.
I am trying to decide between tightrope and TPLO for my 10 year old. Do you have any advice about this after your experience? Thanks.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DrEarth
My 10 year old dog had surgery to repair a torn ACL, and the doctor had just started performing a new technique by repairing the ligament with a tightrope.
It has been four months, and my dog still favors the leg some, but not often. Has anyone had a longer-term experience with this?
I am scheduled to have TPLO on my labmix done in a couple of days and having second thoughts. Was wondering what decision you made and how it went for you. I'm horrified on what I'm reading about recovery with TPLO. My cocker had fishing line done years ago and is great, but I realize my lab is heavier and more active. I am just torn as to what I should do and would prefer a less invasive procedure, but also want results. She is 8 years old and has a lot of play left in her. Any feedback is appreciated.
A less invasive procedure is TTA, which is what we had performed on our 58lb border collie mix. Not all dogs are candidates for TTA, you would need to see if your surgeon even performs this option. TTA is a newer surgery and not all are doing this. We had AWESOME results with TTA. Obviously this is still a surgery and slow recovery is a must.
Last edited by Amazonchix; 01-03-2010 at 04:48 PM..
The tightrope surgery has been fine so far, about a year later. However, I never let her run anymore. After a run, she would always be limping on the repaired leg, and she partially tore the ACL in the other leg. I am not having another surgery done this time.
I just went with the cheapest surgery, and that was the tightrope. My dog doesn't have that many years left, so...
Just got the tightrope surgery done yesterday on our 6 year old polish lowland sheepdog (stocky, 55lbs). He had torn his left CCL (surgeon says it looked like an old injury, but we just noticed a lameness a couple of weeks ago). Surgery is supposed to be less invasive than TPLO or TTA (we have no experience with either). Our dog was able to put weight on the leg almost immediately after the surgery, but he is pretty doped up on Fentanyl and some other narcotic. All this being said, we lucked apon a great surgeon at the Bayridge Veterinary Hospital in Kingston, Ontatio, Canada. My recommendation is do your research, query your vet, and look for someone with experience and certification (TPLO, TTA, or Tightrope). I may post again in a week and let you know how it is going.
Our German shorthair had TPLO 10 years ago, when it so new of a procedure that I thought I was crazy for trying it. Max was an 85# extremely active 5 year old dog, and we did the TPLO because compared to conventional ACL surgery, it was the only shot for such a large, active dog - it was a bad injury, likely to end his life early if this didn't work. But back then, there were few reviews of the procedure and it was a shot in the dark.
It was a bad year. Dh also blew out his knee so badly that the first doc didn't want to do surgery at first, but did so, saying dh'd still probably end up with a walker/wheelchair. And a young filly I had also injured her knee, where she had OCD lesions, unbeknowst to us at the time. So everyone but me had surgery.
After months, when the vet said Max was through with his uneventful, official recovery, I still worked him back slowly to his old activity levels - I didn't just let him go shorthair crazy for days on end. Did the same with the hubby and the horse. I am guessing it was probably 8 months or so of slow, increased conditioning for all of them.
It is now a decade later. Dh never needed the walker, though he did have a second surgery - and his doctor even made his case the subject of a talk he gave (like, can you believe this guy is still walking?). At age 57, he is starting to get some pain in the knee, but talk about lucky. The horse was treated by a guy who is the top in this field, and who said afterword that it was worse inside her knee than he thought, and she could be anything from a great show or trail horse, to euthanized because she was't even pasture sound or ridable (but that youth was on her side - she was 10 months old). As it turned out, she was ridable and I kept her at home to use as my personal pleasure horse on the trails. No problems yet, not even arthritis, and she is a fiesty little thing - but sound.
And Max? He spent a decade hiking and running with us, galloping behind us while we were on horseback, hunting steep chukar country (that is nasty hard climbing up almost cliffs), galloping along sandy beaches, driving with us from Canada to California for horse shows, and basically just being a high energy, take no prisioners german shorthair. He is 15 now, no noticeable arthritis in that leg, the other leg stayed sound, and until I see posts like this, he and I have been able to completely forget that he ever had surgery. He is having a lot of issues, and I think the time may be near, but his leg isn't even part of those problems. What a bunch of luck all this was.
My point is while sometimes things don't work out with these surgeries, there are lots of examples out there, for humans, horses, dogs, etc, where things work out even when top surgeons just aren't sure that they will. I currently have a dog with achilles tendon tears that may end up crippling her for life - but you bet I am going to research this to death, and see what we might be able to try. My assesment of what to do with her is colored by the fact that she is 10+, and I have to consider quality of life issues (might take repeated surgeries, and she just had a mast cell tumor removed).
But it is always worth looking into, picking your best option, and hoping that luck falls your way with these things. Good luck to you and your dog as you decide!
My 6 year old German Shepherd Angel had the tightrope surgery this past fall. Dr. Cook did the surgery here in Illinois. I will tell anyone that is considering it, be mentally prepared. The recovery process is long and difficult. Just a few days ago, she injured her other leg. I think she fully tore and now will require another tightrope procedure. I have an appoint in a week (hopefully sooner if they can fit us in) to check it out and see if she did tear it.
A few tips for everyone.
Ice is your friend. It will help with the swelling and the pain. For the first week we were icing on and off all day. It soothed her and definitely helped swelling go down faster.
First couple nights - She didn't get up to pee as she was in too much pain. We ended up changing out the sheets under her at least 10 times as she would just urinate in her bed. She also oozed out some feces so we would use baby wipes to clean her up. I suggest in these cases, you either put a plastic cover over your dog bed with sheets or blankets on top, or put a layer of plastic in between you piles of blankets. You will be doing a lot of laundry the first week. And check to see if they pee themselves the first couple days. They are so drugged up that we never knew. Don't use a super thick bed that makes it difficult to step up.
***IMPORTANT TIP*** Get a sling! It's a padded piece of material connected to two handles. A good one is padded or has fabric so you don't irritate their skin as much. Every time your pooch want to get up, you support their weight. We used the sling for almost 3 weeks. It allows her back side legs to be supported. You'll gauge how much help your pooch needs. Either a full support where you are practically carrying they back end, or light support to just assist in stumbles. The first 2 weeks Angel needed full support in order to squat to pee and poo. If your vet does not have a sling, buy one BEFORE the surgery. This will be a lifesaver especially for big dogs.
Pooing - Angel did not poop for 5 days after her surgery. 3 visits to the emergency vet and place where she had her surgery later.... she finally went. We were concerned she was going to have some kind of toxic poisoning. Be patient with the pooping. Of course if you suspect your dog has to go but can not, take them to the vet. In 10 days after her surgery, she was brought to emergency vet at least 3 times, and her surgery vet twice. We were very concerned.
Pain management - They will be in pain and if you have a vocal dog like Angel (Shepherds usually are) it will break your heart. The screaming. The yelping. I cried with her every time. Initially you'll have pills pills and more pills. For angel, it was not enough. 3 days in, and one of the trips to the emergency vet, we finally were told to get her a pain patch. It was our savior and she had it replaced out 2 times after that. She was in a lot of pain and we could not sooth her.
Trust your gut - If something seems out of the ordinary, call the vet or take them there. Most areas have emergency vets for off hours. Make sure you have copies of all the records from the surgical vet, so if come 3 am in the morning you have to take them to an emergency center, you can bring the records and it will help them determine all that has been done so far.
Keep Logs - We had at one point, 4 different meds rotating. KEEP A LOG. Keep a log of what pill was given at what time. Keep a log of when they pee. When they poo. When they eat How long they screamed for. Anything and everything you can think of. If there is an issue during recovery, you won't have to guess what time was their last pain med, or if you remembered to give the antibiotic. THIS IS AN IMPORTANT STEP!
You will need help. My sisters and I (3 of us) were on round the clock care for 2 weeks. TWO FULL WEEKS! We slept in the same room as her, she was never left alone. If she had to pee at 2 AM, she whined and we were there to hear it. If she was thirsty she whined and we had to put a bowl under her with a towel to catch the drool. If you have a big dog like we do (100 lbs) you just can not do this alone. I took off work 1.5 full weeks. And my sisters didn't work so they were there 24/7. This surgery is not one that allows you to leave your pooches home alone to hobble around. One wrong step and that's it. Your $3000 is wasted cause you didn't plan out proper care.
Staples - Make sure you check your dog that all staples are removed. I've read about cases were once was missed because the hair was covering it. Know how many staples your dog has. Know how many were pulled out. You'll have plenty of time to count them.
Time - The only thing that will help them is time. It will take a long time for them to act like themselves. But they will. Be aware. Infections are a real possibility. Complications are a real possibility. Keep a watchful eye on their behavior. If they are doing great, and then come week 3 their appetite is low and they aren't acting like themselves, you bring them back to the vet.
I feel for all of you who are true dog lovers. To watch you dog go through this process is heart breaking. I think I lost years of my life due to the stress of watching her suffer. I'll have to reread my own post in the near future if Angel requires surgery on the other leg. Good luck to you all. You can get through it. Remember that in the end, you have to do what's best for the dog.
Should I put my 11 year old dog through ACL repair surgery?
I just found out that my 11 year old boxer/heeler has a torn ACL. We have him on antinflammitories for 2 weeks and then we have to decide if we should put him through surgery to repair the ACL. Wondering if anyone has had experience with an old dog and surgery and what will happen if we don't get the ACL fixed. Will he be in pain forever?
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Tightrope on 10 year old?
