Early hip dysplasia in young dogs can cause subluxation of the femoral head through joint laxity alone, before any degenerative change of the joint. In this situation, the key question is not which implant to use, but which patient to operate.
RATO is indicated in Ortolani-positive dogs. It is contraindicated in the presence of degenerative changes, and when the acetabular filling is above 10% of the femoral head diameter. The required abduction is measured as the distance between the centre of the femoral head in its reduced and distracted positions.
The webinar covers: radiographic techniques for evaluation of hips; the rationale of RATO; preoperative measurements; the step-by-step surgical technique; and the complications of RATO emerged so far.
RATO is a more localised, less invasive alternative to DPO and TPO for early canine hip dysplasia, intended to reduce the risk of severe complications.
Speaker:
Gian Luca Rovesti
DVM, DECVS(NA)
The most important elements of his professional career are the following.
• Visiting periods at the universities of Zurich, Colorado, Florida, North Carolina, and at the Gulf Coast Veterinary Specialists in Houston – years 1993-2000.
• Boarded for the ECVS in 1997 (tutor Dr. Aldo Vezzoni), and became a non-active (NA) member in 2010.
• Presented about 500 lectures in national and international meetings, and has been invited speaker for the American College of Veterinary Surgeons (ACVS) meeting (Chicago 2011).
• Director of the AO advanced course (1997) and of many orthopedic courses.
• Orthopedic consultant for the Vienna University (Head of surgery department Prof. Gilles Duprè) for the years 2009-2010.
• Authored about 60 publications, 28 of those indexed in PubMed, three sections of the AO manual (2005), a chapter of “Complications in Small Animal Surgery” book (2016 and 2024), and 3 chapters of Veterinary Clinics of North America (2012 and 2019).
• President of the International Veterinary Orthopedic Association (IOVA) from 2020 to 2025.
• Holder of 5 patents for orthopedic instruments and implants.
• Developer of three surgical techniques: XP-TTA - X-TPLO - RATO (Rovesti Abduc-tion Trochanteric Osteotomy).
• Main interests: intraoperative skeletal traction, arthroscopy, stifle and hip surgery, and hybrid external fixation.
