Section: Information In-depth
Sudden onset hind leg lameness following cruciate ligament injury can be so severe as to produce lameness as profound as a long bone fracture. Unlike a fracture, swelling and pain are restricted to the stifle (knee) joint.
Other Causes of Hind Limb Lameness
Medial patella luxation or a dislocated knee cap can produce bouts of sudden onset lameness or a more insidious lower grade problem. Differentiation between these diseases is made during the physical examination, although the two can occur at the same time.
Any traumatic injury to the hind limb can produce a lameness similar to an acute cruciate rupture, such as a dislocated hip, deranged or dislocated stifle or Achilles tendon rupture. These disorders are usually traumatic in origin, sudden in onset and easily differentiated from a torn cranial cruciate ligament.
Meniscal injury occurs in approximately 50 percent of completely torn cranial cruciate ligaments. It is therefore part and parcel of the cruciate problem and is not seen as a separate entity in its own right.
Caudal cruciate ligament rupture is extremely uncommon and the result of severe direct trauma to the front of the tibia. Abnormal motion of the knee can be found on palpation; in this instance, what is described as a "caudal drawer" is obtained.
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