TPLO Post-Surgery Pics

[kyra]

Kyra had her bilateral TPLO surgery this Friday and everything went very well. They kept her in the hospital through the weekend since it was a bilateral and she only had two good legs left. They wanted to make sure everything was OK before letting her come home.

We decided on the TPLO instead of the traditional surgery because of Kyra's young age and very high activity level. We consulted with our vet, the surgeon and many other resources and the recommendation was unanimous for TPLO. Even though it is more expensive, the long term results for highly active dogs are much better for TPLO than traditional suturing. We also opted to have both knees done at the same time so we wouldn't have to put Kyra through the rehab process twice within just a few months.

Details for those that might be interested: Her right cranial cruciate ligament (CCL) was a complete tear and the left CCL was a partial tear. She had moderate to severe inflammation in both knees, but both menisci were in great shape. Before surgery, the femur/tibial angle was 27° in both knees. They used a 24mm biradial saw blade to cut the bone and put a 3.5mm plate secured with 3 pins and 6 screws in each leg.

Pics:
Finally home: overhead view

Rear view:

Right Knee:

Left Knee:

More to come later.

 

[mudji]

What degree was the knee, and what did they take it down to? Weezie's second knee was the worst of the two, but at the time, she was walking on it fine, so we did the better knee first. It was a toss-up at the time.

Did they use the new screws on her?? Weezie has new locking screws in her new knee from this summer.

I was wondering today what happens if she slips on the ice. Can she still blow her knee out??

Keep her quiet, give her a kiss from Maine, and follow the doctors instructions.. You all will be fine.

hannah

 

[jane]

Poor baby....Hope she's not in too much pain. Hope she make's a quick and easy recovery.

 

[Pam G]

I'm sure you're relieved it's all overwith. Now she can get on with her recovery. Give her a big hug from me .

 

[kyra]

What degree was the knee, and what did they take it down to? Weezie's second knee was the worst of the two, but at the time, she was walking on it fine, so we did the better knee first. It was a toss-up at the time.

Did they use the new screws on her?? Weezie has new locking screws in her new knee from this summer.

I was wondering today what happens if she slips on the ice. Can she still blow her knee out??

Keep her quiet, give her a kiss from Maine, and follow the doctors instructions.. You all will be fine.

hannah

Both of Kyra's knees were 27° and reduced post-surgery to 5°. She had partially torn the left one and was already on "bed rest" for 4 weeks when the right one completely went. Her right leg became completely unusable and the left one just barely worked so she really didn't have a good back up leg for supporting her rehab if we had only done one. We have to "sling" walk her for 6 weeks minimum. They used 3.5 mm cortex screws. I don't believe that they are the self locking ones. I hope to have some pictures of the X-rays tomorrow. They show the screws really well.

 

[Abbey]

OUCH!!!!! The poor baby. Abbey and Zeke send best wishes to Kyra and hope she is up and feeling fine in no time. :hugs::kiss:

 

[mudji]

Kyra, Let us know how all are doing today....

hannah

 

[Rhonda]

aawww, I hope you can keep her resting, I would think that would be the hardest part keeping her down. Hugs to your girl!

 

[Diana]

Best wishes for a quick recovery.

 

[rcantor]

Poor Kyra! Heal well baby!

 

[BoundlessNewfs]

Glad to hear that her surgery went well, and that she is not into the recovery phase. Hope all goes well on that end of it for you.

 

[mudji]

WOW....... and he brought it down to a 5!! I think Weezie was an 18, he brought it down to a 6. The funny thing is that he completed a TPLO on a small tiny dog just before he did Weezie's surgery.. I had to laugh at the visual.

Did Kyra have an epidural?? Weezie didn't for the first one, but did for the second one. All in all, initially all she did was sleep. Kyra will feel better soon, but as I said before, follow the vets advice and keep her quiet for the first 6-8 weeks.

You have my good thoughts... In a few months, you will look at her and see a much happier dog.. We did.

hannah

 

[rcantor]

Poor Kyra! Heal well baby!

 

[berryann]

My guy just had TPLO on both knees, 6 weeks apart though. Almost 6 months of quiet time. GRRR! If you want ideas to keep him busy I have a couple links. We did a lot of clicker training for stuff that doesn't require much movement (yes, you can train a newf to **** an ear up!) and meals were frozen in kongs, marrow bones, and toilet paper tubes. (When you're not moving around much a little extra fiber can't hurt!)

 

[2Paws]

Thanks for sharing the pictures. The incision looks like my husband's knee. I'm so glad she came out of surgery with flying colors and wish you both well during the recovery period. She will be back to her old self in no time!

 

[Ginny]

Glad she's on the road to a full recovery. The incisions look great and your setup with the dry deck is a smart way to go. Good luck with the rehab.

 

[kyra]

My guy just had TPLO on both knees, 6 weeks apart though. Almost 6 months of quiet time. GRRR! If you want ideas to keep him busy I have a couple links. We did a lot of clicker training for stuff that doesn't require much movement (yes, you can train a newf to **** an ear up!) and meals were frozen in kongs, marrow bones, and toilet paper tubes. (When you're not moving around much a little extra fiber can't hurt!)

Frozen toilet paper tubes? That sounds tasty. I would definitely be interested in whatever links you have. What amazes me is that it's only been 5 days since the surgery and if I didn't keep her on a tight leash and the sling, she would be racing around the yard like a maniac. She's already trying to jump and go into play bows with the cat and other dog. I can't even imagine what it's going to be like in a few more weeks when she's really starting to feel good but we still have to keep her quiet for a couple of more months.

 

[littlerosieuk]

How is Kyra doing?
Janet

 

[BoundlessNewfs]

Updates? How's Kyra doing now? Any luck keeping her quiet?

 

[kyra]

Thanks for asking about Kyra. She's doing really well. The hardest part is keeping her down. She's in no pain, so she thinks that all is well. She's very bored and tries to break free of the array of baby gates and barriers whenever she sees an opportunity. She had no problems with the stitches or swelling or any of the other things that we were told to look out for. She never even had to wear the dreaded e-collar. It was 5 weeks this past Friday and I can't even find a trace of her stitches on either leg. We took a video of her movement for the vet so he could see how she was doing.

Movement after 4 weeks

Only three more weeks until she gets her final x-rays. After that we can start getting her back in shape with longer and longer walks.