The cranial cruciate ligament (CCL) in dogs act the same way as the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in humans, providing stability to the knee joint by preventing anterior movement of the tibia on the femur. However, differently than humans where an ACL tear is usually traumatic, in dogs CCL tears are more commonly caused by a degenerative disuse of the fibers that gradually leads to a tear. Because of this degenerative etiology, a dog that has a ruptured CCL has a 50-60% chance of rupturing the opposite CCL as well.

If the patient is a surgical candidate, there are currently 3 categories of surgical stabilization techniques: intra-articular grafting, extracapsular repair, and corrective osteotomies. The grafting technique has lost popularity due to inferior results, therefore the other 2 options are the ones usually performed on these patients. These study looked into the long-term outcome after CCL surgeries (intracapsular, extracapsular, and osteotomy techniques) by comparing objective measurements with healthy control subjects as well as the opposite limb on the same dog.

At an average of 2.8 years post-surgically, the study found that in surgically treated limbs, approximately 30% of the dogs had decreased weight-bearing compared to the other limb, 40-50% of the dogs showed restriction in knee flexion when sitting (a very functional position used throughout the day by dogs), and 66% of the dogs showed weakness when jumping from the ground (think about your dog having difficulty jumping into the sofa/bed or car).

In conclusion, in my opinion this article shows that those surgical techniques are good options for those patients who are good surgical candidates; however, it is important to follow a post-surgical rehab and strengthening program for the surgical limb to achieve the desired strength and ROM to fully return the dog to functional activities.

Click here for link for the article.

~TheK9PT

Francisco Maia, PT, DPT, CCRT