Anterior cruciate liagment (ACL) tears are one of the most common injuries that create rear leg lameness in the dog. They cause pain and lameness. The degree of lameness ranges from an obvious limp to complete refusal to bear weight on the injuried leg. Over time, many of these dogs lose muscle mass which progresses to complete disuse of the leg. Others will use the leg after awhile, but later develop severe painful osteo-arthritis of the knee.

TPLO surgery
Many veterinarians will perform less aggressive procedures that perform well initially. The end result of all these procedures is advanced osteoarthritis as the dog ages. Therefore, we do not perform or recommend them anymore.