Groundbreaking canine surgery registry making positive impacts in practice

As the RCVS Knowledge Canine Cruciate Registry (CCR) launches its third annual benchmarking report, its users are reporting the positive impact it’s had on their work in practice.

Veterinary surgeon Kate O’Sullivan noted that: “the data here supports what we know from studies and gives me confidence when discussing the options with owners. It’s real-life data, and that is always easy for clients to relate to”.

Indeed, the data in the report provides insight on the efficacy of a variety of different surgical techniques, giving clinicians the tools to better inform their clients.

Veterinary surgeon Heather Eastham said: “The CCR has revolutionised the process of data collection and storing for these cases and the ability to generate my own reports has simplified this auditing process significantly.”

As Heather points out, teams that upload their data to the CCR can audit their outcomes against the national benchmarks and identify areas for improvement.

Kate also reported on the CCR’s impact on decision making in practice, saying: “a few individual cases were flagged up to me through the registry that I would otherwise not have been aware of.

“I have stopped sending dogs home with antibiotics following surgery as a result of seeing that over two thirds of surgeons do not prescribe post-op antibiotics.”

This impact on antimicrobial stewardship is backed up by the data from the 2025 benchmarking report, which says that the use of prophylactic post-operative antibiotics in reported cases has decreased by 19.3% since 2021.

Heather also reported on the changes she’s made in practice thanks to the CCR, saying: “I now email all clients in advance of the date of their potential surgery to give them specific information about the surgical procedure or options of surgical procedure we may discuss and send them links to the very informative pages on the CCR website.

“By the time I see them on the day of surgery, most clients have already enrolled. This has cut down the length of my pre-op consults and clients arrive far more clued up as to what is going to happen and already engaged with the registry.”

Vets and veterinary teams that carry out canine cruciate surgery can get involved in the CCR in the following ways:

• Download the report and compare the findings against your own practice.
• Register your practice on the CCR so you can start submitting canine cruciate surgery cases.
• Submit your cases to the CCR and help us grow the evidence base.

The latest annual CCR benchmarking report has revealed a 25% increase in the number of users contributing data in the last 12 months. 593 veterinary professionals are now registered to provide canine cruciate surgery data, an increase of 119 since the previous annual report. This increase in registrants saw the number of overall cases on the CCR rise by 40% - from 1,319 to 1,849.

The report also found that:

• 142 different breeds of dog (or recognised variations) were reported in the data with Labrador Retrievers remaining the most commonly reported breed, represented in 9.4% of all cases reported.
• Osteotomies were once again the most commonly reported procedure, with the proportion of Tibial Plateau Levelling Osteotomies (TPLO) increasing by 6.1% since the 2024 report.
• The use of prophylactic post-operative antibiotics in reported cases has decreased by 19.3% since 2021.
• The degree of cranial cruciate ligament tear was recorded in the majority of patients (89.5%) but was slightly reduced from those recorded in 2024 (92.1%). In 2025 over two-thirds of those recorded were complete tears.

You can download the report here.

The CCR’s Clinical Lead, Mark Morton, said: “The CCR continues to develop into a valuable national resource, capturing real-world data on cruciate surgery and postoperative outcomes. As more practices participate and more cases are followed over longer periods, the dataset becomes increasingly robust and useful, both for the profession and for individual clinical audit.

“This year has seen the launch of a new complications dashboard for clinicians, allowing benchmarking against the rest of the registry dataset. I’d encourage you to use this and find where and how you can improve. Even if your data puts you well ahead of the benchmark, you can still make a powerful contribution to the CCR. By sharing your data and your successes, you can help us build a strong evidence base that'll mean we can all improve together.”

The data on the CCR is donated by veterinary professionals and teams across the UK, and anyone who carries out canine cruciate surgery is eligible to take part.

Teams that upload their data to the CCR are then able to audit their outcomes against the national benchmarks and identify areas for improvement.

The RCVS Knowledge Canine Cruciate Registry was launched in 2021 and published its first annual benchmarking report in autumn 2023. The 2025 report is the result of four years of data submissions from veterinary teams.

The industry-leading CCR provides veterinary professionals and owners with the data they need to navigate clinical decisions on the treatment of canine cruciate ruptures with confidence.