This study was aimed at evaluating the results of extracapsular femoro-fabelo-tibial inter-connection technique, for the treatment of spontaneous cranial cruciate ligament rupture (CCLR) in dogs, using for this purpose clinical and radiographic evaluation. In this study 13 dogs allocated in two groups were operated: unilateral rupture (RU) and bilateral rupture (RB). The weight ranged between 2.3 and 53kg (median 6.7kg) and the interval between the suspect of lesion observed by the owners and the surgical procedures ranged between three and 365 days (mean 123 days). None of the operated knee were observed intra-operative complication. After 30 days of postoperative the two groups showed statistically significant difference (P=0.05) in the evaluated parameters, except of the pain and willingness to hold up the contralateral limb on the group of the dogs with bilateral rupture. At the radiographic exam on the 0 and 180 days, the evolution of degenerative changes was seen in 84.6% of cases. The extracapsular femur-fabelo-tibial interconnection technique is efficient in the immediate stabilization of joint with CCLR, offering functional recovery for reduce the cranial displacement and internal rotation of the tibia, however it doesn’t stop the osteoarthritis progression.
surgery; orthopedics; stifle joint; dog
