MMP ACL/CCL

The most critical stabilizing structure in the canine knee is the cranial cruciate ligament (CCL). The primary function of the CCL is to prevent forward thrusting motion and inward rotation of the tibia white bearing weight (walking/running).

When the CCL is ruptured/torn this results in an unstable, painful knee and ultimately to degenerative arthritic changes in the knee joint which can be debilitating later in life.

We offer two types of procedures for repair of a ruptured canine ACL/CCL. For most sizes of dogs the procedure that is recommended is called Modified Maquet Procedure (MMP). For smaller canine patients, the mini-Tightrope repair will be recommended.

The MMP CCL surgery redirects the force generated by the large quadriceps muscles to the patellar tendon to compensate for the failed cruciate ligament. This is achieved by moving forward the part of the tibia (the tibial tuberosity) attached to the quadriceps muscle. The patella tendon then acts in the same way that the previous CCL ligament did to stabilize the knee.