Post Op Achilles tendon repair

[lehughes]

- Totally unrelated to elbows but another dog I saw today - owners have been away for 6 weeks so I didn't get the chance to do really regular strengthening follow-ups: achilles repair Sept 5th, cast removed Oct 22nd (not able to use the orthotic they recommended for 12 weeks because of really bad sores) - still normal to see the hock dropping a bit especially with gait. I'm not sure what my expectations are with these guys, I've only seen 2 before and honestly their repairs seemed so "tight" that hocks were always level. This lab looks good in stance but when fatigued or with gait I can still see it dropping a bit so I hesitate to allow any off-leash activity even though we are 4 months post-op (she's a very active young lab).
Joanna

[lehughes]

Hey again...

Re: Dropped hock Labrador. I would suspect that the surgery wasn’t 100% held together b/c they weren’t able to support it in a brace. So this is / will be the function. I’d wait to allow off leash as well. if they really want to see what it looks like versus guessing, likely smart to get someone to do an U/S of the tendon. Might need periodic bracing for more high level activity. If the brace will work still or work for that purpose.

And I’m going to post these on the forum anyways. In regards to the hock question, I’d love to hear a surgeon’s take on it. So hopefully David Lane will pipe up or someone else with experience on the repair end of things!

Cheers,

Laurie

[larm40]

Curious if the surgeon used any PRP injections into the Sx area at the surgery time? Our orthopedic surgeon does that since the tendons are less vascular than other tissues for healing. It has worked well on many occasions for the Achilles surgeries he has done.

[David Lane]

Agreed - if all had gone well, the hock should look posturally normal at this stage. Ultrasound would be the best option to pinpoint exactly what has gone wrong and by extension, what else (if anything) can be done.

[K9Rehab]

Thanks for the recent post on this David, it reminds me to check in with this owner and see how the dog has been doing. Pre-Covid in February they were just starting to gradually let her do some off-leash activity in the yard. I don't know if the surgeon did injections, I'll look into it.

I had another Achilles case come up that I would love input on. 8 year old pointer that had a traumatic Achilles laceration and repair 5 years ago. Owner was consistent with rehab and the dog was able to return to a very high level of activity without apparent issue until 2 weeks ago when he presented at vets with hock dropping and edema - was referred for an ultrasound which revealed initial repair was intact but there was a partial tear of the tendon. He was essentially sent home with recommendations for 8 weeks rest and referred to me. Owner is super worried that his active bush dog won't be able to be active. Recommendations here? Other than gradual strengthening and really hoping he doesn't tear it fully? Has anyone found bracing useful (preferably OTC so that we could get it quickly?) and honestly what are my odds of this partial tear not becoming a full tear?

[David Lane]

How dropped? If it is anatomically lengthened so much that the dog can't maintain a normal stance, then I consider that to be a surgical problem. If the changes in stance are mild, then I would be stem celling and orthotically bracing plus rehab it (did I just invent new verbs?). If regen med wasn't an option, I would shockwave/laser/rehab as the next option down the chain.