Retrospective study comparing two materials commonly used in the LFS technique for CCLR.

Area of Science:

• Veterinary Orthopedics
• Canine Surgery
• Biomaterials Science

Background:

• Cranial cruciate ligament rupture (CCLR) is a leading cause of stifle degenerative joint disease (DJD) in dogs.
• The lateral fabellar suture (LFS) technique is a surgical option for CCLR.
• New nonabsorbable, multifilament, polyblend polyethylene orthopedic sutures have been developed for the LFS technique.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the short-term outcomes of the LFS technique using a proprietary polyblend polyethylene suture (FW) versus monofilament nylon leader line (NLL).
• To evaluate the failure rates of FW and NLL in clinical cases of canine CCLR.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective study of 16 dogs treated with the LFS technique.
• Comparison of suture material failure between FW and NLL groups.
• Statistical analysis to determine the likelihood of failure for each material.

Main Results:

• The FW suture material demonstrated a significantly higher failure rate compared to NLL (P = 0.0379).
• FW was 14.667 times more likely to fail than NLL.
• FW failure was 6 times more likely than one strand of NLL and 32 times more likely than two strands of NLL.

Conclusions:

• The proprietary polyblend polyethylene suture (FW) is less reliable than monofilament nylon leader line (NLL) for the LFS technique in treating canine CCLR.
• This study provides the first clinical comparison of these suture materials in the LFS procedure.
• Findings suggest NLL may be a preferable choice for the LFS technique due to lower failure rates.