TPLO Surgery Complications: Dog Knee Injuries— Roxie Broke Her Bone at TPLO Plate

TPLO surgery is well-established and considered a gold standard for treatment of dog cruciate ligament tears. It is, however, invasive and does carry a risk of complications.

The thing about Pitties is that they are loving, big, and energetic. The younger, the more energy they have. Though with Cookie, who is a Rottie and coming up on 7, there hasn’t been much slowing down.

Roxie is 2.5 years old; you can just imagine how much energy she has. She’s not too heavy–90 pounds. She runs and plays hard.

One time, while playing fetch, she returned with the ball not bearing weight on her right hind leg. If you have experience with large-breed dogs, you likely can see the writing on the wall.

Injured cruciate ligament

Roxie was diagnosed with CCL injury. She was taken to an orthopedic specialist and got a TPLO surgery.

Roxie’s recovery was going well and she was improving. The third week in, however, Roxie seemed to have had a setback. She started to limp worse.

Back to the surgeon for evaluation

Something was wrong. Roxie was taken back to the surgeon to see what was going. The vet had checked Roxie out and took x-rays of her leg.

Roxie had a fractured bone at the implant site.

Roxie was playing too hard during her recovery

The last thing you want after your dog goes through a major surgery like that is a setback. The damaged implant or fractured bone is a substantial setback.

Sadly, not overly uncommon with energetic dogs.

What happens during recovery is as important as the surgery itself

Following a good rehab protocol religiously is crucial. Of course, try explaining that to a young pup. They want to run and play. For Roxie, breaking the rules cost her another surgery. Of course, a dog does not have a concept of needing to take things easy and what might happen if they don’t.

Limiting exercise too much and restraining a young dog in a kennel can drive them out of their minds. I believe that judicious use of Trazodone, such as we used with Cookie during her recovery, is an invaluable tool to keep a dog calm and not frustrated. With Cookie, without this chemical restraint, she’d either be miserable or keep re-injuring herself.

Other measures to limit the dog’s activity level are important, but this treatment helps facilitate things going smoothly.

Taking care of slippery floors, eliminating the use of stairs with ramps or support help taking the recovery period home

Original story:
Roxie – TPLO Surgery

Related articles:
Nigel’s TPLO Complications

Further reading:
TPLO Complications