When you hear the words cruciate ligament or a rupture ACL, you automatically envision athletes pulling up lame or footballers going down clasping at the knee. These vital ligaments within our knees are just as important, and susceptible to injury, for dogs. If your dog goes lame in one of their hind legs, they may have torn or ruptured their cranial cruciate ligament (CCL) which is similar to the ACL in humans. This ligament connects the back of the femur, which is the bone above the knee, to the front of the tibia, the bone below the knee.
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CCL damage predominately found in large-breed dogs, usually finds the injury occurring during activities like running and jumping or pivoting quickly. Smaller breeds can also suffer tears of this ligament, but for many it’s because of poor limb conformation where the lower leg and upper thigh don’t align properly. Veterinarian and Durham Street Veterinary Clinic owner, Kirsten Ingwersen, said that dogs who suffer cruciate ligament ruptures will have lameness, or some degree of limping.
“Cruciate issues are a common and chronic disease in dogs, and while a lot of research has been undertaken as to why, it’s still not fully understood,” she said. “It affects dogs of all sizes to a certain degree however some breeds have a predisposition such as labradors, retrievers and those with a ‘staffy-style’ body shape”.
Kirsten has undertaken new training in Queensland that allows her and the team to provide new treatments and options for some dog owners, whose pets are suffering from cruciate problems, and have provided promising results so far. “Dogs over 15 kilograms can benefit from the new surgery however currently smaller dogs still need to be be treated with the previous procedures,” she said.
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Not satisfied with the traditional treatments, Kirsten said there was a large call for the new procedure in the Central West and given there is no referrals required treatment is faster and simpler. “The new treatment is close to half the price of specialist care and has a success rate between 85 to 90 percent, compared to around 65 per cent for the older procedure,” she said.
The purchase of specialist equipment, coupled with the new training, has also allowed Kirsten and the team to better treat other animals. “There is a lot of overlap with broken bones due to the techniques and equipment used, so we can do a lot more fracture repair in clinic for a wider variety of animals species,” she said.
Along with orthopaedic care and treatment, Durham Street Veterinary Clinic offers a wide range of services including dentistry, vaccinations, radiography, ultrasound and much more.
