What should you do if your dog is over 14 years old, weighs more than 10 kg, and has a cruciate ligament rupture on both sides?
We decided to... Zlig-OP, which we have further developed into the Petlig Method® after more than 200 operations using the Zlig Method (more on this in another, subsequent article).
How would the dog have been treated in the traditional way?
As is often the case, the colleagues recommended cruciate ligament surgery using the TPLO method (More information can be found on our overview page.).
What would have been the disadvantages from our perspective?
- Two procedures would have been necessary, as only one side could have been operated on at a time, with at least 8 weeks of healing time in between.
- This results in a doubled risk of anesthesia – a risk not to be underestimated, especially in older patients.
- Higher costs due to the double anesthesia.
- Longer suffering for the young patient and increased risk of suboptimal healing of the already operated leg.
What were the advantages from our perspective of the Zlig/Petlig Method®?
- We were able to work with two surgeons parallel In one session, not only can the risk of anesthesia be reduced by eliminating the need for general anesthesia, but the operating time can also be minimized by the simultaneous use of two trained surgeons.
- The cost of the procedure was significantly lower than compared to two TPLO surgeries.
- The dog was already able to after two days in our small animal center walking on both operated legs (see video).
If you would like more information about our cruciate ligament reconstruction method, you can find further information and examples here: