Summary
Osteoarthritis (OA) progresses in the canine cranial cruciate ligament (CCL) deficient
stifle. Progression of OA is also documented in canine patients after various surgical
repair techniques for this injury. We evaluated the radiographic arthritic changes
in canine stifle joints that have sustained a CCL injury, and compared radiographic
OA scores between Tibial Plateau Leveling Osteotomy (TPLO.)surgery patients receiving
a medial parapatellar exploratory arthrotomy for CCL remnant removal versus those
receiving a limited caudal medial arthrotomy without removal of the CCL remnants.
Medial/ lateral and caudal/cranial stifle radiographs were obtained before surgery,
immediately following TPLO surgery and at 7–38 months (mean 20.5) after surgery. Sixty-eight
patients (72 stifles) were included in the study. The cases were divided into two
groups. The patients in group 1 (n = 49 patients, 51 stifles) had a limited caudal
medial arthrotomy, and patients in group 2 (n = 19 patients, 21 stifles) had a medial
parapatellar open arthrotomy. A previously described radiographic osteoarthritis scoring
system was used to quantify changes in both of the groups. The age, weight, OA scores,
initial tibial plateau angle, final tibial plateau angle, and the change in angle
were compared between the groups. The results showed that there was significantly
less progression of OA in the group that had the limited caudal medial, arthrotomy,
versus a medial parapatellar open arthrotomy. There was a significant advancement
of the OA scores of patients that had TPLO surgery.
Keywords
Cranial cruciate disease - osteoarthritis - TPLO® - radiographic assessment - canine