Your Bay Area veterinarian, Serra Veterinary Hospital offers TPLO surgery to it’s client.
Tibial Plateau Leveling Osteotomy is a bone cutting (osteotomy) procedure to permanently repair a torn Cranial Cruciate Ligament (CCL or ACL). A TPLO procedure changes the tibial plateau angle (TPA) by rotating the plateau, changing the biomechanics of the knee and eliminating the need for a cruciate ligament. The procedure includes using a semi-circular saw blade to cut through the proximal tibia. The cut segment is then rotated caudally to decrease the TPA to approximately 5o-10o.
A stainless steel plate is then applied to the medial aspect (inside part) of the tibia to hold the rotation in place. This plate holds the bone together in the same way a plate would hold together a naturally occurring fracture. Once the osteotomy is healed the plate is no longer needed, however plates are typically left in for life unless there are complications. Perhaps the most important part of the TPLO procedure is the strict activity restrictions in the 8-week post-operative period. This restriction from an activity is needed to allow the bone to heal, and sometimes includes gradual increases in leashed activity. If you have any questions, please contact Serra Veterinary Hospital located in the San Jose area today at (408) 739-3545.
