Thursday, July 7, 2016

Issues Surrounding Dog ACL Surgery Procedure

By Janet Lee


Dogs, like any other animal, do experience bone fractures or joints complications. The common one is the anterior cruciate ligaments or the cranial cruciate ligament. It affects the knee joint. Excess trauma and slow regeneration of ligaments are the leading causes. To curb the condition, dog ACL surgery is recommended. There are other traditional methods, but this one stands out to be the best. As a pet owner, there are key issues you should be enlightened concerning the surgical process.

One is supposed to know the main cause of this disease or injury. Long-term degeneration of ligaments is one major cause, which leads to weakening of the fibers within the joint. Genetic factor also holds some lead on this. Certain breeds are claimed to be vulnerable to this condition since they inherit it from their family lines.

It is important also to be familiar with the signs and symptoms of the condition since some people confuse it with spine-related complications. The animals suffer a lot as they limp while walking. It becomes more devastating, if it attacks two legs because it leads to total lameness, and the pet ought to spend a lot of time sleeping or lying in one position. Slight limping is seen on the injury early development stages, which gets severe as the ligament get more worn out.

Few pet owners have the knowledge on what exactly happens during the condition. It is recommended to know what your animal is going through. The ligaments are worn out and the joint stifles. It causes a painful sensation that eventually lead to discomfort to the pet. The knee loses its functioning ability, and the animal becomes disabled.

One critical step one should take after noticing any sign of the disease is taking the dog for diagnosis. The medical examination is meant to be done by a qualified orthopedic surgeon. Through radiography and scanning processes, the expert is able to assess the level of severity and recommend the next treatment step.

There are two methods of treatment. One is surgical, which is the ACL surgery process, while the other one is non-surgical. The most recommended is the surgical management approach. It involves replacement of deficient ligament and re-align the knee to avoid its stifle. A prosthetic replacement has eminent results of returning the animal almost to its original normal condition.

After your pet has been treated, there is a healing procedure. Since there have been cuts made and implants placed in the joint, they should be removed after the animal recovers, to avoid bacterial infections. Some antibiotics are recommended by the surgeon to curtail infections of the healing part of the body. Regular checkups are suitable for monitoring its recovery progress.

After about six weeks the pet is expected to show superb improvements. The exercising period should commence after this duration to strengthen the joints and control any cases of complications. The above information is relevant to any individual who has a dog suffering from a cranial cruciate ligament injury.




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