Cruciate Surgery

The Cruciate Ligament is found in the stifle joint (knee joint on the back leg), and damage to this ligament is the most common cause of lameness in the back leg in dogs.  Surgery is usually the best option for stabilising the stifle joint after cruciate ligament damage. Often there is increased movement in the joint once the cruciate ligament is torn and this movement doesn’t get better with medical treatment in most cases. There are a number of options for surgery and often the best option for your dog depends on a lot of factors. We can help you decide on the best option for your pet, but as a guide these are the surgical options we can offer:

1. TPLO surgery – TPLO stands for Tibial Plateau Leveling Osteotomy and is considered the gold standard for most cases with cruciate ligament rupture. It has been a procedure previously only available through specialist surgeons but is now also available at our clinic. It is a technique that involves cutting the tibia (the bone below the stifle joint) and rotating the bone to level the top of the tibia where it contacts the femur. This stops the tibia from pushing forward when the dog bears weight on the leg. This procedure has been studied extensively since it was introduced in the 1990’s and is still showing the best results over the long term. Once the bone has healed the fix is permanent and there is no reliance on the implants after this.  This is available at our clinic for between $3600-4200 depending on the size of your dog. 

2. Tightrope – This involves placing a suture on the outside of the joint in the same direction as the old cruciate ligament to act like the cruciate ligament did. This technique uses bone tunnels through the femur and tibia to anchor the braided nylon suture. It is a very stiff fixation and can be a good option for some older, large breed dogs to help stabilise the joint. We are always relying on the implant to be stiff and tight in this procedure.  Sometimes this technique can not work as well with large breed, young dogs as the implant may loosen over time.  This procedure costs between $2300-2800 depending on the size of your dog.

3. De-angelis – This works in a similar way to the tightrope technique but uses a single strand of nylon as the implant and it is passed around a bone on the outside of the femur to anchor the suture. This is best used in light weight dogs but can be a very good option for these cases.  The cost for this procedure is between $1800-2200.

All of these techniques require a 2–3 month rehabilitation period after surgery where the dog needs to be on a lead all the time. When not on a lead they should be confined to a small area where they can’t run or jump. This is challenging for some dogs and often requires a bit of thought about how best to manage this period of time before undertaking surgery.

These options are all available through our clinics and performed at the Hastings branch. If you would like to discuss these options with us please call the clinic on 59791214.

 Last updated August 2022