What to do if the dog is over 14 years old, weighs more than 10 kg and has a torn cruciate ligament on both sides?

We decided to have a Zlig operation , which we further developed into the Petlig Method® after now having over 200 operations with the Zlig method (more on this in another following article).

How would the dog have been treated traditionally?

As is often the case, colleagues recommended cruciate ligament surgery using the TPLO method ( more on this on our overview page ).

What would have been the disadvantages from our point of view?

• Two operations, as only one side could have been operated on and there would have been at least 8 weeks of healing in between.
• This results in a double risk of anesthesia - a risk that should not be underestimated, especially in older patients.
• Higher costs due to double anesthesia.
• Longer suffering for the small patient and increased risk of suboptimal healing of the leg that has already been operated on

From our perspective, what were the advantages of the Zlig / Petlig Method®?

• in parallel , we were not only able to reduce the risk of anesthesia by saving on general anesthesia, but also reduce the operating time to a minimum by using two trained surgeons at the same time.
• The cost of the procedure was not insignificantly lower than compared to two TPLO surgeries.
• two days , the dog was able to walk on both legs after surgery (see video).

If you would like more information about our cruciate ligament replacement method, you can find further information and examples here:

https://tierarzt-karlsruhe-durlach.de/dienste/chirurgie/zlig-kreuzband-op-method-fuer-schwere-hunde/