May Musculoskeletal Month - Cruciate Injury

Most people know about cruciate (ACL) injuries in athletes 🏃, but did you know that dogs 🐕 can injure their cruciates (CrCL) too?

🐾 The cranial cruciate ligament helps provide stability to the stifle (knee) joint. When ruptured or injured, there is instability in the knee, which leads to inflammation, pain and osteoarthritis. The pet usually does not bear weight on the affected hindlimb

🐾Cranial cruciate injury is reported to be one of the most common reasons of hindlimb lameness in dogs. It is rare for dogs to rupture their caudal cruciate ligament

🐾 CrCL injury stats: it is usually only an acute injury in about 2️⃣0️⃣ % of dogs; in the majority, it is a more subclinical process that leads to rupture. Not at all cases have a full tear of the cruciate; in up to 3️⃣0️⃣% of cases, there can be a partial tear that could progress to a full tear. 5️⃣0️⃣% of affected dogs will have a torn meniscus too. About 5️⃣0️⃣% of dogs will tear their other cruciate within a few months - years

🐾 There are both medical management and surgical management options for treating cruciate tears. Pet parents 🐾 - make sure you don’t give your pet any over the counter pain medications for people or pets. Vet staff 👩🏻‍⚕️- don’t forget to educate clients on the importance of weight management, low impact exercise and joint health supplements

🐾Surgical management is often the goal standard, especially for large breed dogs to be able to return to a normal level of comfort and function

References:

1) Veterinary Partner. Veterinarypartner.com

2) Tilley, L. P., & Smith, F. W. (2005). The 5-minute veterinary consult: Canine and feline. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

3) Yin, S. A. (2010). The small animal veterinary nerdbook. Davis, CA: CattleDog Pub.