Tibial Plateau Leveling Osteotomy in the rupture of the cranial cruciate ligament in dogs – review

Cranial cruciate ligament rupture is one of the most common condition encounter in the stifle of dogs. It still has a controversial etiology and treatment in veterinary medicine. Many professionals find difficulties in to diagnose and chose the surgical procedure to be adopted. In Brazil, the treatment approach using corrective osteotomies is increasing, and Tibial Plateau Leveling Osteotomy (TPLO) is one of the techniques most widely used by professional. The objective of this study was to review the most important issues associated to the rupture of the cranial cruciate ligament, and to describe the technical principles behind the use of correcting tibial plateau angle, and surgical technique of TPLO. The surgical procedure is directly associated to the success or failure of treatment, and the importance of the postoperative complications must be taken into consideration.