Anatomy atlas of the medial aspect of the knee in dog

Anatomy atlas of the medial aspect of the knee in dog

Anatomy atlas of the medial aspect of the knee in dog


Introduction

Orthopedic and traumatology surgical procedures are common in dogs. Among these procedures, veterinarians often use the tibial plateau leveling osteotomy (TPLO) to stabilize the knee after cranial cruciate ligament rupture.

TPLO requires access to the medial femorotibial joint: knowledge of the precise location of the muscles, patellar ligament, medial collateral ligament and vascular structures is essential to perform the procedure correctly, especially to optimize the bone cut and prevent hemorrhage.

The objective of this module is to provide students and practicing veterinarians with a solid anatomical foundation for the surgical approach to the knee from the medial side in dogs.
 

Material and methods

 

Topographical anatomy

The subject of the study was a dog that died for reasons unrelated to this module.  A plane-by-plane dissection of the medial aspect of the thigh, the knee joint, and the leg was performed by Eric Betti and Claude Guintard, DVM, PhD (Laboratory of comparative anatomy, ONIRIS, Nantes, France). Each step of the dissection was photographed.

Surgical anatomy

Frédéric Cossu, DVM (Clinique Vétérinaires des Aubépines, Vierzon, France) operated on two dogs with a ruptured cranial cruciate ligament.

  • For the first dog, each step of the surgical approach was photographed.
  • For the second dog, only the arthrotomy step was photographed.

The photographs were labeled by Stephan Mahler, DVM, PhD, veterinary anatomist, under the anatomical and scientific supervision of Antoine Micheau M.D. and Denis Hoa M.D. (Radiologists - Montpellier, France).

The anatomical structures were labeled, following the Nomina Anatomica Veterinaria, and grouped by topics:

  • Body parts
  • Regions
  • Bones
    • Femur
    • Patella
    • Medial sesamoid bone of the muscle gastrocnemius
    • Tibia
  • Joints
  • Ligaments
  • Muscles
  • Arteries
  • Veins 
  • Nerves
  • Superficial popliteal lymph nodes

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  • International Committee on Veterinary Gross Anatomical Nomenclature (2017) Nomina Anatomica Veterinaria. Sixth Edition. Ghent, Belgium.
  • Ruberte J, Sautet J (1998) Atlas d’Anatomie du Chien et du Chat. Tome 3 Abdomen, Bassin et Membre pelvien. Multimedica, Barcelona, Spain.
  • Evans HE, de Lahunta A (2013) Evans Miller’s Anatomy of the Dog. Fourth Edition. Elsevier Saunders, St Louis, USA.
  • Cossu F, Gauthier O, Guintard C (2005) Voies d’abord en chirurgie ostéo-articulaire chez le chien. Les Editions du Point Vétérinaire, Maisons-Alfort, France