Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
How the knee moves in dogs with torn cranial cruciate ligament
By Tinga, Selena et al.·Published in BMC veterinary research·2018·College of Veterinary Medicine, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Femorotibial kinematics in dogs with cranial cruciate ligament insufficiency: a three-dimensional in-vivo fluoroscopic analysis during walking.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
An 18-month-old Labrador with a torn cranial cruciate ligament (CrCL) was experiencing limping and instability in his back leg. After surgery to repair the ligament, the dog's movement was closely monitored using advanced imaging techniques. The results showed that the surgery helped improve the dog's leg stability and movement, particularly during walking. The findings suggest that surgical treatments should focus on correcting both the forward sliding of the tibia and the twisting of the knee joint to help dogs recover better from this common injury.
People also search for: dog limping after knee surgery · Labrador torn cruciate ligament treatment · dog knee instability recovery
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Cranial cruciate ligament (CrCL) insufficiency is a degenerative condition that is a common cause of pelvic limb lameness and osteoarthritis in dogs. Surgical therapies developed to treat dogs with naturally occurring CrCL insufficiency aim to address the resultant instability, but the in-vivo alterations in stifle kinematics associated with CrCL insufficiency have not been accurately defined. The objective of this study was to quantify the 3-dimensional femorotibial joint kinematics of dogs with naturally occurring cranial cruciate ligament (CrCL) insufficiency during ambulation. Eighteen client-owned dogs (20-40 kg) with natural unilateral complete CrCL rupture were included. Computed tomographic scans were used to create digital 3-dimensional models of the femur and tibia bilaterally for each dog. Lateral fluoroscopic images were obtained during treadmill walking and 3 complete gait cycles were analyzed. Stifle flexion/extension angle, craniocaudal translation, and internal/external rotation were calculated throughout the gait cycle using a previously described 3D-to-2D image registration process. Results were compared between the pre-operative CrCL-deficient and 6-month post-operative contralateral stifles (control). RESULTS: CrCL-deficient stifles were maintained in greater flexion throughout the gait cycle. Cranial tibial subluxation was evident in CrCL-deficient stifles at all time points throughout the gait cycle [9.7 mm at mid-stance (P < 0.0001); 2.1 mm at mid-swing (P < 0.0017)], and the magnitude of cranial tibial subluxation was greater at mid-stance phase than at mid-swing phase (P < 0.0001). Greater internal tibial rotation was present in CrCL-deficient stifles during stance phase (P < 0.0022) but no difference in axial rotation was evident during swing phase. CONCLUSIONS: Naturally occurring CrCL rupture causes profound craniocaudal translational and axial rotational instability, which is most pronounced during the stance phase of gait. Surgical stabilization techniques should aim to resolve both craniocaudal subluxation and axial rotational instability.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29530093/