Acl Tear In Dogs Front Leg

If your dog ruptures his cranial cruciate ligament in his hind leg the equivalent to the anterior crucial ligament in the human knee his subsequent care depends on several factors.

Acl tear in dogs front leg.

If your dog goes lame in one of their hind legs they may have torn or ruptured their cranial cruciate ligament or ccl similar to the acl in humans. These not only include his size weight age and general activity level but your ability to pay for treatment. Once a licensed veterinarian diagnoses your dog with a ccl tear and it is decided that surgery is the best option for your dog there are three main orthopedic procedures to repair an acl tear. Over time one torn acl that is not treated often results in two excruciatingly painful acl injuries.

Every now and then dogs overdo it asking just too much of their front legs shoulders elbows wrists and toes or back legs hips knees ankles and toes. They rarely endanger the posterior cruciate ligament. It is most commonly torn on the back leg but can be torn on any leg. The ccl is responsible for keeping the tibia in place beneath the femur and stabilizing the knee joint.

By the way our four legged friends are like us with only two knees. Dog acl surgical options. Dogs front legs are built like our arms. Therefore it is the owner s responsibility to try to keep a dog with a minor acl injury from eventually tearing his acl completely.

If your dog tore his acl suddenly it most likely happened during play or excited activity. The words sound alike but they mean different things. This ligament connects the back of the femur the bone above the knee with the front of the tibia the bone below the knee. As in humans a dog s bones and joints are subject to strains sprains dislocations and breaks that can cause pain and limited mobility.

Furthermore dogs with an acl injury in one leg will try to avoid the pain by using their other legs more often. Although a torn acl is painful for your dog it can recover with rest and medication. If you hear your dog yelp they may need your help. A lateral suture technique aka extracapsular repair 2.

Factors such as trauma due to an accident or an injury caused by repetitive strain can cause acute pain for your pet. A torn anterior cruciate ligament acl is a common injury in dogs which may cause hind leg lameness. When the acl is torn the entire leg is unstable and the bones are rubbing causing inflammation and degenerative joint changes. The acl anterior cruciate ligament is the ligament that holds the femur and the tibia together from the front of the knee.

Tibial plateau leveling osteotomy tplo and 3. This injury occurs when the acl in the dog s knee joint stretches or tears causing either acute or chronic pain. A front leg injury in a dog can be a complex diagnostic case.