Your pet may be a higher risk anesthetic candidate, and the life expectancy of your pet may be shorter.
If your pet has other disease processes going on, like internal organ disease or autoimmune disease, that will impact the decision about whether or not to proceed with surgery. If your pet is otherwise very healthy, then you may be more inclined to pursue surgery. The reason that this choice becomes more complex in a geriatric animal is that there are all sorts of confounding factors that can impact your decision: The goal of surgery is to stabilize the knee so the dog can go back to doing all of the things they (and you) like to do: running, going for walks, wrestling with other dogs, going on trips to the dog park, etc. In young, healthy animals with a completely torn ACL, the very best thing is to have the leg surgically repaired. Eventually, as scarring around the knee occurs, they will start to use the leg more, and it becomes more functional over time. They can’t go for long walks or runs anymore unless they are small enough or strong enough to pick up the injured leg when they run or tire out. The lifestyle of these dogs dramatically changes. I have seen dogs with completely torn ACL ligaments that the owners have elected not to have surgically repaired. Eventually scarring can occur around and inside the knee to help stabilize the joint, but it take years for that process to happen.
#DOG ACL SURGERY FULL#
This type of injury requires surgery to stabilize the joint.Ī dog with a full ACL tear that is not surgically repaired will be lame on the injured leg for a long time, sometimes their whole life. Every time they step on that leg, the tibia shifts forward. Dogs with a complete ACL tear have a knee joint that is not stable. When a full ACL tear occurs, veterinarians can tell because the tibia (“shin” bone) can be displaced forward. In this situation, the dog experiences pain from the inflammation associated with the torn ligament, but the knee is often still stable. Sometimes there is a partial tear in the ligament. There are different degrees of tear that can occur. The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) helps stabilize the knee joint and is the one that most commonly tears in the dog. There are two cruciate ligaments in the knee. Let me start by giving you some information on the anatomy of the canine knee. From a practical standpoint, when a patient is nearing her life expectancy, financial considerations come into play to a greater degree. It depends not only on the overall health of your dog. In a geriatric animal, this decision becomes more complex. In a young dog with a completely torn cruciate ligament, it is an easy decision to have the knee surgically repaired. Should I have her undergo surgery to repair it at her age? My 12-year-old Labrador just tore her cruciate ligament.