Summary
Objective To evaluate the relative position of the femur and tibia in cranial cruciate ligament- intact stifles, cranial cruciate ligamentdeficient stifles, and cruciate-deficient stifles following lateral extracapsular suture system (LESS) stabilization under load at specific joint angles.
Study design In vitro biomechanical study.
Methods Twenty pelvic limbs from 11 dogs were used to evaluate the relative position of the femur and tibia between three stifle conditions (cranial cruciate ligament-intact, cranial cruciate ligament-deficient, and LESSstabilized) at a load of 30% of body weight and stifle angles of 125°, 135°, and 145° using electromagnetic tracking sensors.
Results Cranial cruciate ligament-deficient stifles had significantly greater (p <0.0001) cranial displacement and internal rotation of the tibia relative to the femur than cranial cruciate ligament-intact or LESS stifles at all stifle angles. Cranial displacement of the tibia relative to the femur for cranial cruciate ligament-intact and LESS stifles were not significantly different from one another at a stifle angle of 125°, but were significantly different at stifle angles of 135° (p = 0.0182) and 145° (p = 0.0012). There was no significant difference in internal rotation of the tibia relative to the femur between the cranial cruciate ligament-intact and LESS stifles at any of the stifle angles.
Clinical significance The LESS procedure effectively decreased cranial tibial displacement and eliminated internal rotation of the tibia relative to the femur in the cranial cruciate ligament-deficient stifles at stifle angles of 125°, 135°, and 145° in vitro.
Keywords
Lateral extracapsular suture system - cranial - cruciate ligament - kinematics - cranial tibial - displacement - internal rotation