Prolo Therapy - Page 1

Has anyone had experience with Proliferation Therapy to heal ACL with out surgery? I am looking at the TPLO, Tightrope, or possible ProLo Therapy. My preference is to not have to do surgery if possilbe. My girl is 3.5 yrs old and weights around 85 pounds.
I appreciate any opinions to help me make this difficult decision. 

I am not real familiar with Prolotherapy, but have heard good things about it in humans.  Is your dog's ACL tear a partial or complete tear? I definitely understand how Prolotherapy would help a partal tear because it basically rebuilds tissue. I don't know if this therapy can heal a definitive complete ACL tear. What does your vet say about this?  How much experience does your vet have using this therapY What was his/her recommendation for your dog?

My sister's BC had ACL surgery on both knees, TPLO on the right and tightrope on the left. Both had complete tears, but the right was injured much worse, so doing the tightrope wasn't an option. Both knees are very functional, but she isn't 100%. She is 11 1/2 years old. She had the right knee done in Feb 2011 and the left done in Jan 2013. When she tore the ACL on her right knee in 2011 the vet told us she would likely end up tearing the ACL on the left. My sister toned down the activity of the dog hoping to avoid another surgery, but she IS a Border Collie, so the inevitable happened :(.  The recovery is challenging and it takes a good 8 months or more to heal. The knees are not "normal" and her legs go into an odd position when she sits. She still gets sore if she overdoes it, so she needs Rimadyl occassionally. But, she is enjoying life and still having fun. I hope this helps a little.

Out of curiosity, how much do they charge for the Prolotherapy? The TPLO cost around $3200 and the Tightrope was $1600.

I'm sorry you and your dog are dealing with this.  Please let us know what you decide to do and what the outcome is.

Char

Hello Char,
Thank you for responding. This is such a stressful situation as my girl is VERY active so the rehabilitation is going to be difficult. I have had a few different opinions and of course the first recommendation is to have a TPLO which is around $5000. I can have the tightrope done for $2300. But after that I will be getting her surgery for Hip Dysplasia which is what we were getting ready to do when she tore the ACL.   I was recommended to the vet that will be doing the Prolotherapy by someone who had a much larger dog and they were pleased with the outcome.  I don't think most vets do this type of therapy so getting opinions is difficult which is why I am turning to Pedigree database to see if anyone else has experience with this.
 

Wow, you are dealing with a lot. I am so sorry. Have you gone for a consultation with the vet that does the Prolotherapy? Is your dog a good candidate for it? Did you get a quote? Honestly, I didnt even know they did the Prolotherapy on dogs, so it is rather exciting.

I hope someone else will be able to comment on this and be of more help.

http://www.orthopets.com/stifle_solution_home.html  Good folks, very, very helpful through the process. Our older female GSD has had her stifle brace for two years later this month, she just flies around the yard with it on now. She is 85-90 lbs as well. Cold laser therapy, supplements, some additional complementary therapies and the brace and there was no need for surgery. We use her brace daily for outside exercise (she has a few other issues as well) and got a second brace for a backup. They ran about $700 a piece with casting, shipping, etc. Our dog was a tough fit, but they got it right after two adjustments. A lot cheaper than the surgery… Well, well worth the cost. Going through this again with a young dog’s minor stifle injury just this past week. Using cold laser therapy on him now… If he needs it, we will get him a brace for rehab and prevention of re-injury.

Google ‘conservative management canine stifle’ ‘canine stifle brace’ and ‘cold laser therapy canine stifle’ yada yada, and you will get many non-surgical options and success stories. Some dogs still needed surgery, but braces in these cases helped stabilize the stifle pre and post op.
 
Some vets will blow off braces big time, surgery only, you will find stories on that. Saw a recent article quote from one veterinarian that asked why veterinary surgeons were cutting bones to fix a ligament? Interesting questions. We were very fortunate our veterinarian brought this to our attention. Many folks wear braces all the time for conservative mgmt. of knee, wrist injuries and heal without surgery…myself included. You may need to seek second or third opinions. Whatever brace company you decide you might want to use may help you with referrals veterinarians in your driving range that will work with you on it. We drive 90 miles each way to see ours and she is worth it.

There is also a good size Yahoo group https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/ConservativeManagement/info  on Cranial Cruciate Ligament (CCL) injuries. It is a public group, so immediate membership, no waiting for access. They have some good documents in their File section. Some of the members there may be able to help with the Prolo therapy questions you have.
 
Hope some of this helps. Always a chance of surgery or post op not coming out well. We lost one of our dogs to anesthesia once, so there is always a risk. (Footnote: I was a veterinary professional for many years, so I know it is a rare occurrence, but you can never predict surgical and post-op complications…YMMV)
 
Not familiar with the Prolo therapy, but a brace, etc., may still help, especially with your very active girl during rehab. You just can’t keep them quiet every minute.
 
 Best of luck! It took a lot of patience, but worked out very well it and cut the chance of further injury during healing process way down.
 

Pioneer Wife. Thank you  so much for your the information. It is very encouraging. I am getting ready to take her to a therapy pool a couple times a week to help with the excessive energy! You are right that every surgeon says no to a brace but YES to surgery, which I guess makes sense because they are surgeons :-)  I want to be sure I am doing what is best for her so not rushing to surgery just makes sense. I like the idea of alternative therapy and appreciate your insight.
Thank you so much, Susan

You're welcome Susan. The pool therapy sounds great, wish we had one in comfortable distance to us! My background is mainly in horses and surgery is usually the very last option, if at all, for any tendon or liagment issues. Dogs are easier to sedate and get in for surgery I guess. Cold lasers have a great rate of success for those types of equine injuries, with rest, hand walking and careful rehab. And keeping horses quiet during all that is really a challenge...!

Acupuncture may be helpful as well, did not think of that earlier. Also, our vet recommended weekly Adequon shots to help our young dog's injury. She does the first one IM and sends the Adequon home with us and I do the weekly injections either IM or subQ; both seem to work equally well. Our older 'brace' dog gets an Adequon injection every 3-4 weeks. (This is another product used a great deal with horse joint issues) This may be an additional treatment that could help your dog as well.

If you look for veterinarians that are also chiropractors and/or acupuncturists you may find more open discussion and options there. Our vet is both, but will recommend and/or do the surgery if she feels that is the absolutely best option, for whatever condition our animals have or if conservative treatment does not progress as hoped. Surgery can always be done, but not undone....  If you are in the States, here are a few organizations to look them up in:

https://www.vomtech.com/practitioners.htm
 
http://www.avcadoctors.com/search_for_avca_certified_doctor.htm
 
http://www.ivas.org/
 
http://www.aava.org/search/newsearch.asp
 
http://www.ahvma.org/Widgets/FindVet.html

Hope to hear in time that your girl has a full recovery!

TJ