Cruciate Surgery

Canine Cruciate Rupture is a very common knee injury in a dog, requiring orthopedic surgery. Hilton Animal Hospital, in Newport News, offers advanced veterinary surgical procedures, knee surgery, for Canine Cruciate Repair, including the Arthrex TightRope Procedure, CLICK VIDEO youtube


The Cranial Cruciate Ligament (CCL) in the dog knee, also referred to as the Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) in humans, connects the back of the femur (the bone above the knee) with the front of the tibia (the bone below the knee). The CCL is responsible for keeping the tibia in place beneath the femur and stabilizing the knee joint. Cranial Cruciate Disease Overview [PDF]


Our veterinary hospital performs cruciate repair surgery routinely and is conveniently located in Newport News, adjacent to Hampton, Virginia and serves the Hampton Roads area including Norfolk, Suffolk, Smithfield and as far as Virginia Beach and Williamsburg, Virginia.




Overview and Outcomes of Cruciate Disease

Traumatic cruciate damage is caused by a twisting injury to the knee joint. This is most often seen in dogs when running and suddenly changing direction so that the majority of the weight is taken on the knee joint. Just as in humans, the knee joint is then unstable and causes extreme pain, often resulting in lameness. 


There are vast amounts of information about this type of condition on the internet. There are also many opinions as to the best way to treat these cases. We believe for most cases that a surgical correction is the best approach to resolve the condition and return your dog to soundness. Allowing unstable knees to heal without surgery, often results in arthritis and painful stifle joints over the lifespan of these dogs. 


There are many surgical corrections available to stabilize the knee. TTA ( Tibial Tuberosity Advancement ) and TPLO  (Tibial Plateau Leveling Osteotomy ) procedures are most commonly performed by specialty surgeons. While excellent options, both procedures involve cutting the tibia (lower leg bone) and placement of bone plates and screws that require a long healing time. Also, these procedures can be very costly. 


At Hilton Animal Hospital we focus on the Arthrex TightRope System as our primary method of surgically stabilizing a cranial ligament deficient stifle joint. In recent years, a number of studies have documented that the ThightRope surgical repair has at least equal long term outcomes compared to either TPLO or TTA procedures. Arthrex TightRope Data Sheet [PDF]  Also, the healing time is significantly shorter, as well as a significant savings in costs. We offer this procedure for dogs under 110lbs. 


ACVS American College of Veterinary Surgeons [PDF]


Detailed Description of the Arthrex Tightrope Technique [PDF]


Cost of the Procedure [PDF]