Summary
Objective To evaluate the relative position of the femur and tibia in cranial cruciate ligament-
intact stifles, cranial cruciate ligamentdeficient stifles, and cruciate-deficient
stifles following lateral extracapsular suture system (LESS) stabilization under load
at specific joint angles.
Study design In vitro biomechanical study.
Methods Twenty pelvic limbs from 11 dogs were used to evaluate the relative position of the
femur and tibia between three stifle conditions (cranial cruciate ligament-intact,
cranial cruciate ligament-deficient, and LESSstabilized) at a load of 30% of body
weight and stifle angles of 125°, 135°, and 145° using electromagnetic tracking sensors.
Results Cranial cruciate ligament-deficient stifles had significantly greater (p <0.0001)
cranial displacement and internal rotation of the tibia relative to the femur than
cranial cruciate ligament-intact or LESS stifles at all stifle angles. Cranial displacement
of the tibia relative to the femur for cranial cruciate ligament-intact and LESS stifles
were not significantly different from one another at a stifle angle of 125°, but were
significantly different at stifle angles of 135° (p = 0.0182) and 145° (p = 0.0012).
There was no significant difference in internal rotation of the tibia relative to
the femur between the cranial cruciate ligament-intact and LESS stifles at any of
the stifle angles.
Clinical significance The LESS procedure effectively decreased cranial tibial displacement and eliminated
internal rotation of the tibia relative to the femur in the cranial cruciate ligament-deficient
stifles at stifle angles of 125°, 135°, and 145° in vitro.
Keywords
Lateral extracapsular suture system - cranial - cruciate ligament - kinematics - cranial
tibial - displacement - internal rotation