Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Dog limb recovery after knee surgery with low tibial plateau angle
By Volz, F et al.·Published in Veterinary journal (London, England : 1997)·2024·Small Animal Clinic, Germany·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Effect of tibial plateau angle < 5° on ground reaction forces in dogs treated with tibial plateau leveling osteotomy for cranial cruciate ligament rupture up to 6 months postoperatively.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of dogs with cranial cruciate ligament disease (CCLD) underwent a surgical procedure called tibial plateau leveling osteotomy (TPLO) to help stabilize their knee joints. Researchers looked at how well these dogs recovered over six months, comparing those with a tibial plateau angle (TPA) below 5 degrees to those with a higher angle. They found that having a lower TPA did not lead to faster recovery in terms of limb function, but it did help improve the symmetry of their gait. Overall, while the lower angle didn't speed up recovery, it seemed to help the dogs walk more evenly on their hind legs.
People also search for: dog knee surgery recovery · TPLO surgery outcome · cranial cruciate ligament treatment dog
Abstract
Tibial plateau leveling osteotomy (TPLO) has been commonly performed in dogs with cranial cruciate ligament disease (CCLD) since the introduction by Slocum and Slocum (1993). To reduce cranial tibial thrust the TPLO technique aims for a postoperative tibial plateau angle (TPA) of 5-6.5°. In recent years studies have shown that a postoperative TPA below 5° could be beneficial regarding stifle stability or meniscal load. Dogs with CCLD that were treated with TPLO, were examined preoperatively, six weeks, three and six months postoperatively with gait analysis and grouped according to their postoperative TPA. The aims of study was (1) to evaluate if dogs with a postoperative TPA below 5° would have a faster limb function recovery up to six months postoperatively as measured objectively with ground reaction forces (GRFs) and (2) to determine whether the postoperative TPA correlates with the outcome measurements. Dogs with TPA <5° showed no faster limb function recovery postoperatively up to six months as measured with peak vertical force (PVF) or vertical impulse (VI) (p > 0.05). No correlation for the postoperative TPA <5° on GRFs was demonstrated. But the postoperative TPA showed a significant correlation with the symmetry indices of PVF (SIPVF) and VI (SIVI) for all dogs (>5° and <5° TPA together), indicating that with lower postoperative TPA dogs had a more symmetrical gait in hindlimbs SIPVF (r = 0.144, p < 0.05) and SIVI (r = 0.189, p < 0.01). The study indicates that a lower postoperative TPA could be beneficial regarding hindlimb symmetry indices of GRFs.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38723995/