My willow had ACL surgery 10 weeks ago she had a combination of 2 techniques: the extracapsular nylon sutures (lateral) plus they did the Intracapsular grafting, where they thread her own fascia tissue through the holes they have drilled in her knee bones. My vet advised me that this was the best option available to us as the lateral suture surgery has a high risk of failure in large dogs. We have had great results so far. She was able to put weight on her bad knee after a couple of days and now puts equal weight on both back legs. Has been and still is a very slow careful rehabilitation process. Too expensive an operation to risk rushing into too much too soon. Still at the only 5-10minute (on lead) walk in the section stage, but we will get her back to her young self one day. Giving willow green-lipped muscle extract twice daily and just purchased an orthopaedic memory foam mattress for her. Highly recommend the mattress. Willow used to be stiff and sore in the mornings but saw results after a night on this immediately. Good luck with your dog. It's a tough situation to be in. I know there is a lot of controversy about vets opting for unnecessary surgery but in the end you are the only one who can make the right decision for you. Our vet did inform us that the damage to the unrepaired joint gets worse daily with the bones grinding and causing further damage, which in turn brings on the inevitable arthritis sooner, so unfortunately we didn't feel we had much time to make our decision.
