Tightrope Cruciate Repair

The Arthrex Tightrope CCL repair system is a new and highly effective approach to correcting cranial cruciate ligament injuries in dogs. The tightrope procedure is becoming popular with veterinary surgeons in general practice as well as veterinary specialists as a first choice for treating cranial cruciate ligament deficiency in dogs of all sizes.

Cranial Cruciate Ligament injuries are the most common cause of serious lameness in dogs. The cranial cruciate ligament is a small but essential ligament located inside the stifle (knee) joint. This is equivalent to the human ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) which is commonly torn by professional athletes.

Dogs which tear their cruciate ligament show signs of non-weightbearing lameness. In some cases the lameness appears suddenly and on others it occurs following multiple similar episodes which have resolved with minimal treatment (usually these represent partial cruciate ligament tears). Once the cruciate ligament has ruptured it cannot heal, leading to an unstable joint, pain when standing or walking and progressive development of arthritis. Veterinarians can’t repair the torn ligament, they can perform cruciate repair surgery to stabilise the joint and help the dog return to full mobility.

The tightrope cruciate repair surgery is a minimally invasive procedure developed by Dr James Cook of the University of Missouri using the Arthrex cruciate ligament repair system to replace the function of the damaged cranial cruciate ligament with a strong synthetic ligament directly anchored to the bones one either side of the joint. This creates a very strong repair which produces a good outcome with a very good outcome to safety risk profile compared with other procedures for dogs of all sizes.

TightRope CCL was developed to provide a minimally invasive and improved method for extra capsular stabilization of the CCL. This technique does not require cutting of bone like the TPLO or TTA procedures. Instead, it uses small drill holes in the femur and tibia to pass a synthetic ligament-like biomaterial through a small incision to provide bone-to-bone stabilization during healing. This is a Kevlar-like material that is used extensively in human surgery for many orthopedic applications. This material has properties that make it stronger and less prone to failure than any other suture materials currently being used for CCL reconstructions.

The tightrope system and fibertape implant is used extensively in human joint surgery such as ACL (Anterior cruciate ligament, the human name for the canine Cranial Cruciate Ligament)

Tightrope Cruciate Ligament Repair in dogs video

General benefits of the Tightrope over TPLO, TTA and TTO include:

Easier and faster to perform

Reduced cost

Reduced risk of catastrophic failure

Reduced risk of infection

More readily reversed/removed in the event of complications

Faster recovery rates

Able to be used in dogs of all sizes

For more information, please call us at 773-549-3131