Soft Tissue/Orthopedic Surgery

If surgery is required, you can be certain that your pet will receive the utmost care from our staff. Our surgeon is experienced in a wide range of soft tissue surgical procedures including: hepatic, biliary, renal, splenic, adrenal, gastric, intestinal, urinary, reproductive, dermal, oral/pharyngeal, airway, ocular, otic, neoplastic, wound reconstruction. As well as an array of orthopedic procedures such as fracture plating, pinning, wiring, external fixation, cruciate repair, medial patellar luxation repair, ligament/tendon repair, osteotomies, surgical joint reductions, etc.

With 24 years experience in advanced surgery, we would like to discuss any concerns that you might have regarding your individual pet’s needs. With a state of the art surgical suite and advanced pain medication protocols, we provide the highest level of care for our patients. Receiving many referrals from veterinarians around North Alabama, we make sure each patient returns with complete instructions for the referring veterinarian to know what was performed, the potential outcome, and problems to watch for. Regardless of what surgical procedures are undertaken, our team will deliver compassionate care to your pet as they recover and spend the day with us.

Anterior Cruciate Surgery (ACL)

An almost daily question we get is regarding cruciate disease and the options for treatment. We do 3 procedures CBLO, MMP, and ECP. The first 2 require an osteotomy (cutting bone) and changing the orientation. Because of this, they are significantly more expensive than the ECP (synthetic ligament). Changing the orientation does have some benefits but it comes at a cost as implanted hardware is significant and surgery more labor intensive. A critical part of this disease is exploring the joint thoroughly to access all the interior structures making sure there are no comorbidities present to assure a good outcome. After 20+ years of doing stifle surgery it is one of the main reasons we’ve found for failure to do well post operatively. With the right patient selection and performed in the right way ECP in one of its 4 variations can provide a lifetime of pain free ambulation for these patients at a reasonable cost. For some patients where the case dictates one of the other procedures is the better route. We do pre-surgical assessments on every patient to make sure everyone is on board for whatever is decided.

Medial Patella Luxation Surgery (MPL)

Medial patella luxation is another disease we get consistent questions about and a procedure that we do weekly. This disorder has multiple variations which determines what is done in each case. Discerning the root cause as well as the grade of the luxation dictates which procedures are performed. Depending on the degree of varus formation multiple osteotomies are at times required. There is little margin for error and choosing someone that has significant experience performing these is the most important decision. Almost all patients have an excellent outcome with a dramatically improved quality of life if everything is done correctly.

Fractures/Limb Deformities

Fractures and limb deformities come in many shapes and variations and typically we correct with plating or external fixation with occasional pinning and wiring where indicated. There are multiple types of plate and screw combinations and we use locking and non-locking depending on the circumstance. Providing correct alignment and counteracting rotational and bending forces are critical for a good outcome which requires significant surgeon experience.

Chuck Young DVM