Torn ACL - Looking for opinions - Page 2

I had the String method TTA / Tight rope type on my male american bulldog. Was about $1500. after all was said and done. Never had a problem with it again and never hurt the other knee.
Now my dog was injured at 8 months. And my vet who's done 1000's of ACL repairs with the string recomended i wait until he was 15 months to do the surgery because he was still activly growing. I sat and watched the surgery so i would have a complete understanding of what was being done to my dog. (And i worked for the vet as his groomer at the time) The string method is SO MUCH less invasive then a TPLO! Luther was able to walk out of the vet office that night when we closed up shop, (Getting him in and out of the cab-plus of a pickup truck was a bit of a challange.) When he go home he stood on his surgery leg, lifted his good leg and peed. He was fully recovered in about 2 months and never had another leg problem his whole life.
I tossed out the idea of doing IPO with him because of the leg. But we did agility, he ran and played with the other dogs here and never showed any signs of arthritus or any other problem.
I kept him on the Missing Link plus for his joints. But really thats it.
I personally don't like the TPLO as it requuires the vet to saw off the top of the leg bone, change the angle and then bolt all that stuff back together. It's a very invasive procuder, it's very painful and unless you have a great dane or a mastiff. Find another vet.
I do know of a female sheperd from a co-workers litter that blew her ACL, had the string done, eveyrthing was looking good. Blew the other knee, got that one fixed. Then because the dog was such a high driver nut ball she managed to blow out both knees again. They finally put the dog down at 3 because she just kept destroying herself.
On the TPLO's i've known a few dogs to have it done. But they could never return to any level of preformance. They were just expensive house dogs after that.
 

I spoke with my own vet and he also said he would urge the TPLO because of her young age and size (65-70lbs).  He said WSU wouldn't be any cheaper for the procedure.  I've sent all of the information to the owner and will talk to them more.  I've sent them the links to some organizations that might help with funding, but most of them require it to be a life threatening scenario before they can help.  I've also sent them the link to a website to set up a donation page so friends and family can help out.  My vet said that they are going to be performing a new technique for ACL repair in about 6 months, but I would think that would be too long to wait for a complete tear. 

...Kelley
 

I would still contact the vet school and ask. One vet school, not WSU, does that surgery for about half the price quoted by the local vets.

K9gsd78, Did the vet tell you anything about the new procedue?  I read something on this board recently where a poster was investigating Prolotherapy for his/her dog that has a torn ACL. It is a procedure where a substance is injected in the area of the torn ligament.  According to the literature, Prolotherapy helps your body make new cells, which strengthen lax or torn tendons and ligaments. They have been doing it in humans for awhile, but I don't know how much it has been done in dogs. It is interesting.

I have an older dog that has been limping on his left hind leg for 5 weeks (started suddenly) and no one has been able to figure out the exact cause so far. Our regular vet thought it was a soft tissue injury and the rehab vet thought the source of the pain was in his back (siatic nerve). After 4 weeks of meds, acupuncture, laset therapy, massage therapy and chiro adjustments with little improvement, the rehab vet referred us to the neurologist, who thought it might be his knee and not his back, so while we were there he had the ortho vet look at our boy. The ortho vet said he got a drawer (the two other vets who examined him previously could not) and said he needed a TPLO. When I asked him about the Prolotherapy he'd never heard of it. I didn't have a good feeling about this ortho vet so we are seeing the ortho vet this Tuesday who treated my sister's BC. I am going to ask her about the Prolotherapy as well as any other upcoming new techniques. I'll let you know what I find out. 

My vet didn't tell me the name of the technique, just that it is much less invasive and uses much less expensive equipment than the TPLO which is why they will be able to offer it in their office.  I asked him to let me know more about it when it becomes available.  I will post about it as soon as I find out more. 

I will call WSU and get a quote for their available options.

60 to 70 lbs is a smaller dog. My vet would do labs, rotties and goldens with the string. Chances are she's not going into IPO or Agility right?
Then have them really look into the string.
Luther was 95 lbs most of his adult life. and he had that repair for 7.5 of his 9 years on the planet. I'd do it again if i had another dog blow a knee.
Fry

Neither TPLO or TTA is a good option.  I would keep the dog quiet and see if the joint improves on its own first.  If that doesn't happen, the surgery dragonfry mentions, or a newer version thereof, referred to as TightRope CCL, is far less invasive, ergo, a shorter recovery time, and mimics the function of the damaged ligament.  Bone remodelling doesn't seem like a good solution to me.

http://www.tiggerpoz.com/id8.html

I can't comment on the general outcome or recovery time of the various procedures in the average dog, but only have the experience of watching my sister's BC go through the TPLO on one leg and the Tightrope on the other leg. Initial recovery was a little faster on the leg with the Tightrope, but the injury was much less severe. She is 3 years out on the TPLO and 1 year out on the Tightrope. The leg that had the TPLO is much stronger and functions better that the one that had the Tightrope. Maybe it is because she was two years older when the Tightrope was performed or maybe she still needs more time to recover. I don't know why this is case, but at this point the TPLO leg is much better overall.

Great website, Keith.  Thank you very much.  I have passed it on to the owner.

It is really great to hear all of these opinions... exactly what I was hoping for!

Forgot to mention that the vet that diagnosed the ACL injury claims that it is because she is a GSD and walks around squatted all day with severe overangulation.  This is a working line bitch with moderate angles, so I am not quite sure where the vet pulled that claim from.  All those rotties that have torn ACLs must be overangulated and "squatty".  Oy!

Some vets have no idea what they are talking about :(  For that reason alone I would at the very least get a second opinion.