Hey guys, this is Nikki, Lead Veterinary technician with Posh Dog Knee Braces. Today let’s discuss bracing after surgery. So, your dog had CCL surgery, be it TPLO, TTA, or Lateral suture. Now you are wondering what can be done so that your dog does not have to go through that a second time. Is there a way to prevent a second knee injury? Let’s dive deeper into this very controversial topic.
First off, the statistics don’t lie. Once a dog has a CCL tear, there is a good chance the other leg will go. Now, this is not a guarantee, but it is very common. The reason? Your dog is now overcompensating on the good legs, as the injured leg is not able to weight bear as it used to. Even after surgery, which can take about 8+ weeks to recover, there is a 2 month plus period where your dog is still overcompensating on the other side. In order to help your dog recover smoothly, you might consider a knee brace for bracing.
What can a knee brace do for the good leg? Well, it can help prevent an injury. After surgery, your dog will need to be on bed rest for the 2 month period, however, after that there will be a time to do physical therapy. There will be some amount of atrophy in the surgical leg, until we get mobility back, and it is hard to say how long they will overcompensate. This is why there is a higher incidence of second knee injuries in patients that have surgery. Now, if we brace post-operatively, we can hopefully prevent the second knee from tearing, and give your dog a much smoother recovery period.
Some patients will also choose to brace the post-op leg as well, depending on the surgery performed. If you chose to do the lateral suture surgery, then I would definitely brace both legs post-op, as the time of overcompensating post lateral suture is much more than with TPLO or TTA.
So, by bracing the second leg we can not only help your dog with a much smoother recovery period, but we might be preventing a second injury all together. Many of our patients brace post-op with great results so far. This gives you peace of mind that you are doing everything possible to get your pup back in top form.
As always let us know if you have any questions about bracing! You can email us through our contact form, and my phone number is 509-412-3065. You can also check out more information on our Facebook Page.
