Surgery to fix tendon slipping in dogs' back legs

Abstract

Surgical treatment of a superficial digital flexor tendon luxation is the treatment of choice, since nonsurgical treatment has been shown to be unsuccessful in dogs in which it has been attempted. The objectives of this study were to report complications and short- to long-term outcomes in dogs with superficial digital flexor tendon luxation treated with abrasion calcaneoplasty, an adjunctive surgical technique, in addition to traditional repair. In total, 12 client-owned dogs with superficial digital flexor tendon luxations were examined in this retrospective case series (from 2010 to 2020) of a novel surgical technique using abrasion calcaneoplasty, in addition to retinaculum imbrication. Records were reviewed for signalment, chronicity of clinical signs, preoperative diagnostics tests, surgical techniques, postoperative complications, and outcomes. Abrasion calcaneoplasty, in addition to traditional primary retinaculum repair, was successfully performed in 12 dogs, with ultimate resolution of clinical lameness in all patients, despite short-term reluxation in 1 patient. Based on the findings of this case series, we inferred that abrasion calcaneoplasty can be considered in addition to traditional repair as an option to treat luxation of the superficial digital flexor, with a 58% short-term complication rate, and no evidence of long-term complications.