Dog Meniscal Injuries Associated With Cranial Cruciate Ligament Tears

Meniscal injuries in dogs are a very common problem secondary to cranial cruciate ligament tears. Injury to the menisci without injury to the cruciate ligament, however, is very rare in the dog.The menisci are two C-shaped pieces of cartilage that sit on the surface of the tibial plateau where the femur and the tibia come into contact. The bottom part of the femur is made up of two round-shaped condyles but the tibial plateau is a relatively flat surface. The menisci function to allow the round condyles to better sit on the flat tibial plateau.



Injury to the menisci in the dog is almost always associated with a cranial cruciate ligament tear. When the cruciate is torn, the femur can slide off the back of the tibial plateau and when it returns to its normal position, the femur grabs a portion of the meniscus breaking it off and dragging it forward so it is sitting in between the femur and the tibia. Because of the structures that the menisci attach to within the joint, the torn portion almost always occurs on the back, medial (inner) side of the knee.



Dogs with meniscal injuries present with severe lameness, often to the point of almost nonweight-bearing on the leg. Sometimes, a popping or clicking noise, termed a meniscal click, can be heard when the dog is walking. This is due to the torn piece of meniscus moving around within the joint during weight-bearing.In dogs, diagnosis of a meniscal tear is usually made at surgery either by direct inspection via opening of the joint (arthrotomy) or by arthroscopy. Other tests such as ultrasound or MRI have been studied in dogs and shown to be effective at diagnosing a meniscal tear, but since almost all dogs also have a torn cranial cruciate ligament, Tears, that requires surgical stabilization, the diagnosis is usually just made during surgery.



Treatment for meniscal tears in dogs is almost always removal of the torn portion of the meniscus (partial meniscectomy). Repair of the torn portion has been attempted in studies with some success but removal still remains the standard of, Tears, treatment because of high likelihood of re-injury down the line.Prognosis after removal of the torn portion of the meniscus in most dogs is good. It is expected that after removal of the meniscus, the dog will develop more arthritis long term but clinically, most dogs return to good function on the leg even with a torn meniscus.



Arthritis may develop over time, but in most dogs, this won't occur until much later in life.

Robert Vonau is a board certified veterinary surgeon with a mobile surgery practice in Denver, Colorado. He spends most days performing surgeries to repair cranial cruciate ligament injuries in dogs. If you would like to learn more about cruciate ligament disease or meniscal injuries in dogs, you can check out my site at http://www.petsurgerytopics.com