HipDysplasia

Many in the veterinary community know me as someone who performs a high volume of total hip replacements. But total hip replacement is ultimately a salvage procedure—we replace a joint only when the native cartilage is irrevocably destroyed. My true clinical priority is always joint preservation: saving the animal's own, natural hip whenever possible. In this case, a 6-month-and-24-day-old Golden Retriever (23 kg) presented with abnormal hindlimb ambulation. Comprehensive screening under sedation revealed significant bilateral laxity. The right hip had extreme laxity (DI 1.03), ruling out osteotomy, but the left hip (DI 0.71, subluxation angle 18°, reduction angle 37°) sat squarely within the golden window for Double Pelvic Osteotomy (DPO). By performing a DPO on the left pelvis, I rotated the acetabulum to dramatically increase dorsal coverage over the growing femoral head. At the two-month follow-up, the dog's left thigh muscle diameter was 20% larger than the non-operated right side, demonstrating restored weight-bearing and proving the immense power of early proactive joint preservation.