At Brisbane Veterinary Specialist Centre we offer the Extracapsular Stabilisation procedure to treat injuries of the cranial cruciate ligament in the knee of dogs. For more general information on cranial cruciate ligament rupture please see the information sheet Cranial Cruciate Ligament Injury on our website.

What Is involved?

Your pet will be in the care of one of our board certified specialists in surgery backed by an expert team. During the initial consultation your pet will be thoroughly examined and we will discuss the options available for you. This procedure is of most benefit to small breed dogs and is generally less costly and has less potential for serious complications than other techniques. For the best outcome in large breed or athletic dogs we recommend the Tibial Tuberosity Advancement (TTA) or Tibial Plateau Levelling Osteotomy (TPLO) procedure; for more information please see the TTA/TPLO information sheet on our website.

The extracapsular procedure involves your pet having a general anaesthetic. Pain relief is provided by a pre-operative epidural injection and continuous infusion of pain relief medications during and after the surgery. Surgery is performed in our purpose built, state-of-the-art orthopaedic surgery suite by a highly skilled team. Specialised extracapsular suture implants are placed around the joint to stabilise the abnormal motion seen with a ruptured cranial cruciate ligament.

Your pet will recover in our intensive care facility for the next 24 hours or so until they are ready to go home. This is a fully equipped ward just as you would expect in a human hospital. There are critical care nurses and veterinarians to ensure your pet has a smooth and pain free recovery.

Post-Operative Care

We only send our patients home when they are comfortable on medications that you can administer at home. A skin patch and oral medications will provide excellent pain prevention for the next few days. You will be provided with printed discharge instructions that clearly describe your pet’s post-operative care.

Generally, this involves approximately six weeks of exercise restriction with gentle leash walks only. Professional physiotherapy is strongly recommended to maximise recovery. Learn more about physiotherapy service at BVSC by visiting the physiotherapy page on our website.

*Diagram showing the extra capsular suture in blue as it relates to the stifle anatomy

You and your pet revisit with our specialist surgeons at 2 weeks and 8 weeks post-operatively to ensure their recovery is going well.

Our mission at Brisbane Veterinary Specialist Centre is to produce the best possible outcomes for our surgical patients while minimising the risks and preventing pain. We do this by having expert, caring staff, state of the art facilities and equipment and by attending to the individual needs of our patients. We look forward to being given the opportunity to help you and your pet.

To make an appointment for your pet ask your veterinarian for a referral and contact our friendly reception staff on (07) 3264 9400.