Two weeks ago, Tina was coming down the deck stairs excitedly to see me and came up limping. I was worried and concerned. I called the Vet and made an appointment for later that day. When I took Tina in, the Vet took her to the back examining room, and within what seemed like seconds, came in and said she had torn her ACL. I thought to myself, my dog just tore her ACL, what now? What are the treatment options? How can I get her well? How much will it cost? Is she too old to undergo surgery? These were the many questions that went through my mind when the Vet gave me the news. This post’s purpose is to explore torn ACLs and their treatment options.
Should my dog have surgery?
Of course, one of the first thoughts I had was does she need surgery? I later got her xrayed, but the Vet did not really give me any good direction. He seemed to be 50/50 on it. He gave me pain pills for her at the first visit. This second visit with the xray took place about 2 weeks later. When I talked with Tina’s breeder, she advised to avoid surgery if at all possible, because Tina is 13 years old. That changed my perspective. I knew surgery would be expensive, but what were the pros and cons of putting her through that?
I started doing what you are doing now, reading all of the information I could on the subject so I could see how I could best help her heal. I read some sad news about torn ACLs at goherogo.com. The might have a possible solution that I may consider, but here is the news. An ACL tear causes a painful motion in the leg called the cranial drawer. The moment your dog tears his or her ACL, three things happen: Muscles start to atrophy (get weaker and smaller), Arthritis formation starts, and your dog has a 60% chance to tear the other ACL. Not the news I was looking for. I wanted to find out more about surgery to see what the dangers were.
I read the following from pethealth.com.
1.Fatal complications from anesthesia are very rare
2. Anesthesia dosing is carefully selected
3. A workup makes anesthesia safer
4. Your vet will consider all conditions before beginning anesthesia
For example, if your dog has a low red blood cell count, a blood transfusion, prior to anesthesia and surgery, may be important. Deciding when the time is right to perform anesthesia is part of the art of veterinary medicine.
5. Veterinarians know there is no routine anesthesia
“There are routine surgeries, but there is no routine anesthesia.” What does this common quote, invented by an anesthesiologist, mean?
6. Monitoring will help protect your dog during anesthesia
Proper monitoring is an essential part of anesthesia. Monitoring includes keeping a close eye on breathing, heart rate, temperature, EKG, and oxygen level. Ideally it will also include watching blood pressure and CO2 levels.
7. Monitoring recovery will help keep your dog stay safe after anesthesia
The article said that overall, dogs do great under anesthesia, regardless of their age or health status. Remember, we put dogs under anesthesia for good reasons: perhaps cleaning teeth, removing a tumor, or correcting laryngeal paralysis. As I always say, “anesthesia is not the enemy, the disease is the enemy.”
No Surgery for now
To tell you the truth, both my wife and Tina’s breeder said to avoid surgery at all costs. She is 13 years old and surgery and anesthesia could be dangerous for her. I decided to let time do some healing. Tina does not go up and down the stairs now, but she goes on walks with me and stays with me while I work from home. She has grown two warts on her head. If she ever has surgery on her knee, I am going to get those warts removed. For now, no surgery for Tina. No straps, or boot. She seems to be OK. Maybe the good Lord has healed her. I think I will just wait it out and see how she does walking around the neighborhood. We are both a site to see. Me, with my lower back arthritis, and Tina with her knee. I guess we are getting older together. That’s what life is all about.