Molly's TPLO Surgery
Molly is a very active 72 pound Golden Retriever. She
loves to chase the ball, walks up to 5 miles a day and plays in the
creek behind her families' home daily when she can. Molly had her first ACL repair winter of 2003 that was a Lateral Fabellar Suture (Extra-capsular) repair. Although
Molly recovered well from her first knee surgery she did develop
some arthritis in her knee over the next year that left her a
bit stiff when she gets up.
When Molly ruptured the ACL on her opposite leg in 2004 at age 9, her family
chose to have the TPLO done to get a faster recovery and
hopefully a near perfect long-term outcome. Molly
did well with her surgery, and went home the next day walking 70%
on her leg and by her 4 weeks recheck was walking normally on her
leg. She was restricted to leash walking and slow physical
therapy until 9 weeks post-op when the bone had fully
healed. Today (at age 13) she enjoys all the activities she did before her
injury and arthritis has not developed in her TPLO knee.
Molly's family felt that the TPLO was definitely worth the extra expense and post-op care. She is a very active dog and they felt the TPLO has given her the ability to continue her 5 mile walks and romps in the creek with stiffness only on the Extra-cap side. Molly was a great case study for us to be able to compare the long-term results of TPLO vs. Extra-cap in the same dog with the same injury. The TPLO side is definitely more comfortable for her.
