Orthopedic & Routine Surgeries
From routine surgeries to more orthopedic procedures, you can trust your pet in our capable hands.
Our highly trained Veterinary Mobility Center veterinarians and technologists are knowledgeable and capable to handle your pet's surgical needs. We prioritize a high level pain control protocol for each surgery to ensure the most comfort possible throughout the entire procedure. As a member of the International Veterinary Academy of Pain Management (IVAPM) and as a Certified Veterinary Pain Practitioner (CVPP), Dr Hudye and our team have created and utilize sophisticated multi-modal pain control protocols for each and every surgical patient.
We work very closely with your pet during the post-operative period. This is what makes us different!
Our surgical and rehab veterinary team work together on every orthopedic case to achieve maximal healing and proper return to functional movement. Whether your pet has had a fracture repair, patellar luxation repair or a TPLO, we include post- operative rehab treatments with every orthopedic surgery. We believe in working with you and your pet not just during the surgery, but throughout the entire healing process and post-operative period.
Do you have Trupanion Pet Insurance? Trupanion is the first pet insurance provider to offer direct payments at checkout. No waiting. No hassle. No worries! For more information ask our Client Care Representatives.
Surgical services for your pet
We offer a wide range of surgical procedures, both routine and specialized orthopedic and ligament/tendon surgery.
- neuter, spay, ovarian sparing sterilization
- lump removal
- dental procedures - routine cleaning and extractions
- cruciate extracapsular repair
- TPLO (Tibial Plateau Levelling Osteotomy)
- fracture repair
- tendon reconstruction
- joint exploration (arthrotomy): OCD flap removal and curettage
- medial patellar correction
- limb and tail amputation
- FHO (Femoral Head Osteotomy)
- joint fusion/ arthrodesis
Every surgery patient is under constant supervision during their procedure by a trained veterinary technician. Our anesthesia monitoring equipment helps improve care for your pet by measuring their heart rate, respiratory rate, temperature, blood pressure, fluid needs and much more.
We offer an integrated approach to pain management and post operative care to decrease pain, increase healing rate and get your pet back to feeling great! This involves traditional pain medications as well as laser therapy, PEMF technology and acupuncture.
We want your pet to recover the best they can and we do everything available to achieve this!
This procedure uses an approach to the biomechanics of the knee joint and was developed with larger breed dogs in mind. The TPLO eliminates the need for the cruciate ligament by levelling the surface of the tibia. The idea is to change the angle of the tibia in which the femur bears weight on. The tibia is cut in a semicircular full thickness way and then rotated in such a way that the natural weight-bearing of the dog actually stabilizes the knee joint. The bone is then stabilized with a bone plate and screws. In addition, the knee joint is opened, inspected, and any damaged meniscus removed. The cruciate ligament remnants may or may not be removed depending on the degree of damage.
Extracapsular cruciate repair eliminates the cranial drawer movement by placement of a strong suture from around the fabella to a small hole drilled in front of the tibia. This tightens the joint to prevent the drawer motion, effectively taking over the job of the cruciate ligament. The knee joint is also opened and inspected. If the meniscus is torn, the damaged portion is removed. This procedure relies on scar tissue formation and retraining the muscles of the leg to achieve joint stability, which is why post-operative rehab specific therapy and strength training is vitally important. The suture placed will break 2 to 12 months after surgery and the dog's own healed tissue will hold the knee.
A femoral head ostectomy is a surgical operation to remove the head and neck from the femur. It is performed to alleviate pain, and is a salvage procedure, reserved for condition where pain cannot be alleviated in any other way. Typically this procedure is an option for severe hip dysplasia/arthritic patients, or in patients with severe trauma (eg hit by car trauma) to the hip joint that has poor to no prognosis to fully heal. Other names are excision arthroplasty of the femoral head and neck or femoral head and neck excision.
Surgical correction of patella luxation can be complicated in fixation as 1 or up to 3 different techniques are used depending on the specific case.
These techniques include:
a) Lateral Imbrication (also called Lateral Reinforcement)
This procedure alone may be adequate for a mild case but is often used as an adjunctive procedure to supplement one of the other surgeries. When the patella slips out of its groove, the joint capsule surrounding it is stretched to allow this motion. Imbrication simply involves taking a tuck in the joint capsule. The tightened joint capsule does not allow for the slipping of the kneecap and the kneecap is confined to its proper groove.
b) Trochlear Modification
The patella rides in a groove at the bottom of the femur (thigh bone). In toy breed dogs this groove is shallow, which allows the patella to slip. If the groove is deepened, the patella stays where it belongs. The normal groove in the femur is lined by slippery lubricated cartilage, called hyaline cartilage. This cartilage is peeled or cut away, the bone underneath is sliced out to form a deeper groove, and the cartilage is replaced. Techniques that do not preserve the original cartilage are no longer recommended.
c) Tibial Crest Transposition (also called Tibial Tuberosity Transposition)
If the knock-kneed conformation has already started to set in, the tibias (or legbones) will have rotated. In particular, the crest on the tibia where the thigh muscle (the quadriceps femoris) attaches may have migrated inward. If this is the case, the crest will have to be removed and pinned back where it belongs to straighten out the leg. Severe rotation of the tibias may involve actually cutting through the entire bone and de-rotating it back into place.
A fracture is any loss of continuity in the bone so the term ‘broken bone’ and fracture are used interchangeably. Dogs and cats frequently suffer broken bones due to trauma from a fall, a fight with another animal, or road traffic accidents. Some fractures can be managed with a cast but others require or heal better with surgery. All fractures aren’t similar. A cat or dog may suffer from different fractured bones or fractures, and the type of procedure needed to treat them varies. Benefits of fracture repair compared to conservative management include:
• Less muscle atrophy
• Less physical therapy
• Healthier joints through reduced immobilization
• Lower risk of osteoarthritis from fractures involving joints, malalignment and angular limb deformity, and non-union (which may occur if a fracture moves too much, has a poor blood supply or gets infected)
Our dog was not doing well and we didn’t have much hope for her when we first brought her in. She was in a lot of pain and very stiff/disoriented and had stopped eating, spending time with us and quit doing all her favourite things. We had really good success with the treatments and medications and all the vets we’ve had so far have been fantastic and wonderful to work with. Our dog is now back to her old self! We had Dr Corben and Dr Labreque and I wouldn’t hesitate to go back to them.
TANEIL
