Laurie's Blogs.

Hi Laurie,

I just started seeing a 10 year old 30 pound mixed breed dog for a cruciate tear.  She has a meniscal click along the medial aspect of the stifle, so I advised that I did not expect that she would do well with conservative therapy, but the owners wanted to start with rehab.  She has only had 3 sessions, but is already showing quite a bit of improvement.  My question is what does a meniscal injury really mean for recovery?She was an active dog prior to surgery, so our goals are a dog that can be comfortable running around in the backyard for another few years.  If that is unrealistic without surgery, then the owners will do surgery.  I told them that we would rehab her for 2 weeks then repeat her exam, so we will be re-evaluating our plan this week and I would appreciate any information you can give me about long term expectations.

Thank You!

HH

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Hi HH,

So the interesting thing about these meniscal clicks is that without arthroscopy / surgical exploration, we don't know how bad they are.  I have had cases where there was a meniscal click but the owners couldn't / wouldn't do surgery... or it was a post-operative finding (about a year out) that didn't seem to affect the dog.

I go with function.  If you are getting improvement... then you pay more attention to that than you do the click.

Human studies show that 58% of meniscal tears can resolve / improve with conservative management.  So, there's no harm in trying.

Treat for cartilage regeneration / OA, pain management, & function / strengthening.

None of us have a crystal ball... so in cases such as this... I tell the owners just what you have done.  "Let's do a trial and see."  I've been amazed more than once!

Best of luck!

Laurie

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Hi Laurie,

Thanks for the reply.  The click has steadily been getting softer/quieter over the last 3 weeks and I can no longer palpate it along the medial aspect of the stifle with ROM.  Clinically, the dog is steadily getting better.  This has been a great case so far. I am using your conservative cruciate article to help guide my exercise selections and the owners are thrilled at her progress.  Hopefully this will be a case with a good outcome.  Again, thank you so much for your guidance!

HH

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Hey HH,

This is awesome!!!

Have fun with it.  I hope all continues to go well.  These cases can simply amaze you (and hopefully others that learn of this option!!)

Cheers,

Laurie