Conservative Treatment of Meniscal Tears

[lehughes]

Laurie,

My name is Erin. I am a CVT, and I watched your video on the conservative management of the torn meniscus in a post op TPLO case. I feel like we see so many meniscal tears after a TPLO and we almost always are recommending our patients go back to sx. Of course, not everyone is able to afford this after a TPLO and a lot of people are just hesitant to do sx again. In this case, we Rx Gabapentin for pain management and continue rehab, but focus heavily on pain and swelling control. Exercises in this case are limited as we do not want to further damage meniscus and cause pain.
We have a human PT here working with us and she said a similar technique for conservative management of meniscus was used in her practice. I have been picking her brain for more info as well. I was curious to see what you recommend to clients after the distraction technique is used for pain management, and what particular exercises you use while conservatively managing the torn meniscus. Also, what is a good supplement to use in conjunction with the conservative management of the torn meniscus? We have starting selling the Hyalogic products here; I am curious to see if you recommend Hyaluronic Acid particularly in this case. I assume glucosamine and chondrotion, and fish oil would be good to recommend as well during the healing process.
A few other questions I have are: How long on average do you feel you expect the healing process to take if everything goes as planned? Finally, is this an option you try 1st before going to sx if you feel confident you are dealing with a bucket handle tear or folded caudal pole tear? I feel like in this practice most of our DVMs would still be more on board with sx 1st, but I would like to have this technique available to those clients that just cannot afford or are not willing to go forth with another sx.

Thanks! I look forward to any information you have!

E