Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Dog recovery after tibial plateau surgery with or without muscle
By von Pfeil, D J F et al.·Published in Veterinary and comparative orthopaedics and traumatology : V.C.O.T·2013·Dirsko J. F. von Pfeil, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Handling of the tibial muscle envelope in tibial plateau levelling osteotomy - to elevate or not? A clinical study of 40 dogs.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of 40 dogs undergoing surgery for knee problems were treated with two different techniques during a procedure called tibial plateau leveling osteotomy (TPLO). One group had their muscles elevated during surgery, while the other group did not. The surgery took longer for the muscle elevation group, but both methods resulted in similar healing and recovery outcomes. Overall, the non-elevation technique was found to be effective and could be a good option for vets performing this surgery.
People also search for: dog knee surgery recovery · TPLO surgery techniques · dog knee pain treatment
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To compare the outcome of the tibial plateau levelling osteotomy (TPLO) procedure, using a 6-hole 3.5 mm locking TPLO plate and performed with the muscle elevation technique (ET) and placement of sponges, to the TPLO without performing these steps (non-elevation-technique [NET]). MATERIAL AND METHODS: Medical records and radiographs of dogs with ET (n = 21) or NET (n = 19) were retrospectively reviewed. Signalment, TPLO procedure side, meniscal treatment, surgery time, haemorrhage, pre- and postoperative tibial plateau angle, assistant, amount of rehabilitation, bone healing (cortical, osteotomy, combined healing scores), complications, limb function, recovery time and follow-up were recorded and analysed using multivariate analysis. A value of p <0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: Surgery time was significantly shorter with the NET (68.5 min ± 3.4) than with the ET (87.8 min ± 3.4) (p <0.01). No significant differences were detected for all other evaluated factors. Soft tissue trauma was minimal and none of the dogs suffered severe haemorrhage. The bone healing scores with the NET and the ET were not significantly different (p = 0.1, p = 0.2, p = 0.1). Complications were rare, minor and not significantly different between groups (p = 0.73). CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The results of this in vivo study indicate that NET is a feasible technique that can be considered for the clinical setting.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23800842/