title: Management of cranial cruciate ligament rupture in small dogs: a questionnaire study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To survey the current management of cranial cruciate ligament rupture in small dogs (<15 kg) by veterinarians.
  
  
  METHODS
  A questionnaire was distributed to veterinarians attending the British Veterinary Orthopaedic Association Spring meeting and British Small Animal Veterinary Association Annual Congress which took place in April 2010. Respondents were surveyed on their management of small dogs with cranial cruciate ligament rupture.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Immediate surgical management was chosen by 15.5% of the respondents. Following that, 77.6% of respondents suggested that case management would depend on severity of lameness (81%), age (72.6%), bodyweight (70.4%), degree of instability (64.8%), and duration of lameness (64.0%). Conservative management included non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (91.1%), short leash walks (91.1%), weight loss (89.0%), hydrotherapy (53.6%), physiotherapy (41.9%), and cage rest (24.2%). Where surgical management was chosen, 71.4% would perform the procedure rather than refer it to another practice. Surgical techniques included extra-capsular stabilisation (63.4%), corrective osteotomies (32.9%), and intra-articular stabilisation (6.8%). The demographic characteristics of the responding veterinarians had no effect on their initial management of the case. General practice veterinarians were less likely to perform a corrective osteotomy than to refer the case, but were no less likely to perform an extracapsular technique.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Conservative management is still widely used for treatment of cranial cruciate ligament rupture in dogs weighing less than 15 kg; this is in agreement with previous publications on the management of this condition in small dogs.
authors.affiliation: Dr. Eithne Comerford, MVB, PhD, CertVR, CertSAS, PGCertHE, DipECVS, MRCVS, Institute of Ageing and Chronic disease and School of Veterinary Science, Leahurst Campus, University of Liverpool, Chester High Rd, Neston, Wirral, CH64 7TE, United Kingdom, Phone: +44 151 795 6100, Fax: +44 151 795 6101, E-mail: eithne.comerford@liverpool.ac.uk.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Comerford
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Forster
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Gorton
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Maddox
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000070598:Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries; D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal / Q000627:therapeutic use; D049628:Body Size; D003625:Data Collection; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000628:therapy*; D004285:Dogs / Q000293:injuries* / Q000601:surgery; D012421:Rupture / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy / Q000662:veterinary*; D013522:Surgery, Veterinary / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D018634:Veterinarians
chemical_list: D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal
keywords: Cranial cruciate ligament; conservative; dogs; management