Tta Or Tplo?

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tmdonn4

Boxer Pal
My Muggles seems to have partially torn his ligament in the hind leg. One vet recomended TPLO, which I noticed a lot of people have had done and read all the posts on that. However, the second opinion vet we took him to said he would recommend TTA, which is still a surgical procedure, but has a shorter and less difficult recovery time. Has anyone had this procedure or heard good or bad?
 
SILLY6PAK

SILLY6PAK

Boxer Insane
TTA is not that much shorter recovery time and the likelyhood of complications down the road are higher than the TPLO. What I was told lighter/smaller dogs do well with the older method but dogs over 50 pounds should have the TPLO.
 
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tmdonn4

Boxer Pal
TTA is where instead of cutting the top of the bone in a curve and rotating it to a 90 degree angle, they slice down the part of the bone that is non-weight bearing and put in a spacer to make the bones meet correctly. They still install a plate and screws, only because it's on a non weight bearing part of the bone as opposed to the TPLO that cuts into the weight bearing part of the bone, that the dogs seem to heal better and faster. The recovery is still about the same, no running jumping etc. but they are able to put weight on the leg within a shorter amount of time. It also seems that with the TPLO, the tendon doesn't have much to 'hang onto', but with the TTA, the tendon stays in place. TTA also is not as difficult surgery as TPLO becuase there is less 'manipulation' in the surgery. The results seem to be the same, but the TTA is relatively new procedure (since 2003) whereas the TPLO is around a little longer. (although still relatively new itself) I have researched doctors who do both, and it seems they are doing more TTA than TPLO even though they can do both. We want to do the best for him, but with so many conflicting opinions it's hard to know what that is. If I go to a vet that does only TPLO he says that's the best. If I go to a vet that does TTA he says that's the best. There are no vets around here that do both, so I relied on research to see that vets that do both do more TTA. I know the regular 'ligament repair' surgery is not recommended for dogs over 30 lbs. so we have eliminated that from our decision. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
 
msjosi

msjosi

Completely Boxer Crazy
My girl has had two successful TPLOs so you know what my opinion is:) The TPLO actually does completely away with the tendon all together so it is never a problem again and based on your post it sounds like the TTA is slightly a combination between the traditional and tplo, but truthfully I don't know about it. I thought the traditional approach was called a TTA. I'm also not sure what you mean about weight bearing in a shorter amount of time b/c they can start weight bearing up to 24 hrs after surgery with a tplo it is just up to how the dog feels and swelling etc. I would be happy to help answer any questions I can...I know how stressful the decisions are. In the end, you will make the right decision for your baby...my personal advice would be to go with the orthopedic specialist you are most comfortable with and will give you and your baby the most individualized care. Good luck to you and Muggles and keep us posted.
 
Pip-n-Dur

Pip-n-Dur

Boxer Buddy
the tplo is more work and more expensive but its just better to get it done, its better in the long run
 
SuzanneC

SuzanneC

Super Boxer
tmdonn4 said:
TPLO surgery runs $3500.00 - $3700.00
Click to expand...

Holy cow!!! TPLO surgery at the University of Missouri is $1500-1800.
As far as TTA vs TPLO, I would definitely go for the TPLO. My Bullmastiff had his left leg done in February, and is scheduled to have his right leg done in July.
 
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