Patient: Sergio is a 3-year-old, 160-pound Bullmastiff

Diagnosis: Right hind CCL tear

Type of Brace: Stifle brace with flexible inner liner and a lateral metal joint

Case Study: In January of 2021, Sergio slipped on a ramp and injured his right cranial cruciate ligament. He previously had TPLO surgery on his left rear leg in May of 2020. It was a difficult recovery for Sergio after the TPLO surgery, so his family opted for conservative management with a custom knee brace for his new injury.

We fabricated a custom knee brace to account for his body type, as a large, muscular and intact young male. A flexible inner liner to the brace was used to gain suspension on his muscles and allow the medial trim line of the rigid shell to be lower, which reduced the risk of abrasions on his testicles.

For knee braces for giant breed dogs, we typically use metal joints. In Sergio’s case, we used a regular urethane joint on the medial side of the brace and a larger metal joint on the lateral side of the brace. This allowed Sergio to have more clearance between his legs than if the larger metal joints were used on both sides of the brace.

Sergio was fitted with his brace in February. He wears his brace for approximately 12 hours a day and goes for daily walks. In the past five months, his weight bearing on his braced leg has improved, but his progress is not complete. We recommend he continues to wear the brace for a total of nine months. Sergio is now a retired show dog, but he enjoys cheering on his siblings from the sidelines.