My 9 year old - 95 pound German Shepherd was just diagnosed with a torn CCL. At her age and with my knee problems, she does not get a lot of exercise. I know her size / weight suggests TPLO, or TTA - but cost is an issue. I have read that the suture doesn't hold up well. I have watched the procedure performed on UA-cam on live dogs and leg models and one thing bothers me about the procedure. It looks like an ordinary drill is used and when you drill most materials, you wind up with an ~ 90 degree angle where the drilled holes meets the surface - in other words, a sharp edge. It's not hard for me to imagine that with suture / bone relative motion, that sharp edge will abrade / cut into the suture - causing it to fail. It seems like a far better method would be to design a custom drill to radius the intersection of the hole with the surface, or to use a separate tool (similar to a router round over bit) to add the radius. I haven't been able to find any failure analysis for this procedure, but it seems like it could potentially be superior to either TPLO, or TTA - on the basis of not only cost, but performance as it seems the suture performs a very similar function to the ligament. I have to wonder if / and why not there hasn't been any work done to improve the longevity of Ex Cap. Your comments / thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Pete
My 9 year old - 95 pound German Shepherd was just diagnosed with a torn CCL. At her age and with my knee problems, she does not get a lot of exercise. I know her size / weight suggests TPLO, or TTA - but cost is an issue.
I have read that the suture doesn't hold up well. I have watched the procedure performed on UA-cam on live dogs and leg models and one thing bothers me about the procedure.
It looks like an ordinary drill is used and when you drill most materials, you wind up with an ~ 90 degree angle where the drilled holes meets the surface - in other words, a sharp edge.
It's not hard for me to imagine that with suture / bone relative motion, that sharp edge will abrade / cut into the suture - causing it to fail.
It seems like a far better method would be to design a custom drill to radius the intersection of the hole with the surface, or to use a separate tool (similar to a router round over bit) to add the radius.
I haven't been able to find any failure analysis for this procedure, but it seems like it could potentially be superior to either TPLO, or TTA - on the basis of not only cost, but performance as it seems the suture performs a very similar function to the ligament.
I have to wonder if / and why not there hasn't been any work done to improve the longevity of Ex Cap.
Your comments / thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
Pete