Avaliação ultrassonográfica de cães com ruptura do ligamento cruzado cranial submetidos a artrotomia / Ultrasonographic evaluation of dogs with cranial cruciate ligament rupture undergoing to arthrotomy

ABSTRACT

Background: The cranial cruciate ligament rupture (CrCLR) is the most common disease of the stifle joint in dogs. Oneof the major concerns in the assessment of these animals is diagnosing the presence of a medial meniscus tears, which isa frequent consequence due to the instability of the joint. Ultrasonography is indicated in the evaluation of the meniscifrom human and canine patients, and the results are similar to magnetic resonance imaging. The aim of this study was tocompare the ultrasonography and the arthrotomy in the evaluation of the cranial cruciate ligament and medial meniscusof dogs with CrCLR undergoing surgery for stifle stabilization.Materials, Methods & Results: Ultrasonographic examination was performed prior to arthrotomy in 23 dogs with diagnosis of complete CrCLR and five with suspected partial CrCLR undergoing for stifle joint stabilization surgery. Theultrasonography identified the complete rupture in 82.6% and the arthrotomy in 100% of the joints with this diagnosis. Inthe joints with suspected CrCLR during the clinical exam, arthrotomy and ultrasonography identified respectively threeand four joints with partial CrCLR, and two and one with healthy ligaments. There was no difference between the twotechniques in the assessment of the cranial cruciate ligament (P = 0.20). The ultrasonography identified medial meniscaltears in 39.3%, while arthrotomy was found in 21.4% (P = 0.0006) of the joints. The most frequent meniscal tear type observed in the arthrotomy was folded caudal horn. The ultrasonography was able only in differentiate presence and absenceof meniscal injury. Besides the real tear that affects the meniscus morphology, the ultrasound also identified echogenicityand echotexture changes in the medial (5/28) and lateral (8/28) menisci. Other changes observed in all joints evaluated byultrasound were the presence of effusion and synovial membrane thickening...