My dog has CCl and I have to make a decision. Which surgery should I go with. TPLO or the newer TTA. Does anyone have experience with these surgeries. I'm prefering the TTA at this writing, but would appreicate some input from others.

Thank You

Milt

My Santo just had a TTA, our ortho said that it was better than TPLO. He is already trying to use the leg and I think the recovery time is less.
Santo is less than 1 week out of surgery so we will see.
Lorri

Something to keep in mind when considering these surgeries is to make sure the vet is totally objective; the TPLO is a patented procedure and should only be performed by a CERTIFIED vet. Many vets are not, so they may have a negative slant in their presentation of options, unfortunately. I almost had to go through this and was going to go for the TPLO b/c of the size, activity level, and predicted percentage of recovery for my dog. The TTA is newer, and I didn't do as much research on it as the TPLO. Be careful who you choose to do the surgery; my poor dog almost had an unnecessary TPLO-for PANO!!! Imagine doing that type of surgery on a dog for NO REASON other than you're too cowardly to admit that you're not sure what the problem is <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" />. That vet is sooo lucky I didn't allow him to perform the surgery. I think I would've had to break HIS knees. <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" /> Luckily, Mother's Intuition kicked in and I took him for a THIRD opinion. Yes, third. Vets are not infallible!

Thanks for your replies. 10 days ago Xena underwent the TTA procedure. The day after surgery she walked out on all fours.To early to tell what the final prognosis will be. All I can say is there is little swelling and she can walk on the bad leg. The hardest part is the restrictions placed on her.I will keep you guys posted on her progression. There may be an interest since this is the newest technique in CCL repairs.

i'm glad to hear you had such a positive outcome and that there is now an alternative to tplo, which i think is a horrible surgery. the people i know who have had their dogs undergo it all regret it.

if a surgeon is certified to do tplo, they will almost certainly try to talk you into it, even if your dog doesn't have drawer sign and the indications of a ccl tear are only circumstantial.

my experiences with this were not good! steer clear or at least ask lots of hard questions.

in my own case, it was good i was so leery, it turned out my dog had a congenital spinal deformity that was causing his "bunny hop" gait, not a ccl. he was a rescue, so i didn't know what he was like before.