Rehabilitation after extra-articular stabilisation of cranial cruciate ligament rupture in dogs.

Patients at the Blue Star Foundation animal hospital in Gothenburg, Sweden, underwent a procedure with an extracapsular suture technique for cranial cruciate ligament rupture. Two groups were compared; one of the groups received rehabilitation by the owner, and the other received professional rehabilitation by a trained physiotherapists. The dogs where reexamined at four, 12 and 24 weeks postoperatively. The results were 'good' in both groups but a difference was not seen between the groups. This study shows that in the dogs with a body weight of between 25 and 50 kg with cranial cruciate ligament rupture, the extracapsular suture technique gives good results, provided that the dogs are actively walked on the leash postoperatively.