Nonsurgical perspectives on CCL diseaseOctober 24, 2018Part one of this series discussed managing owner expectations, strategies to protect the sound cruciate, diagnosing ligament and meniscal damage, and joint irrigation/visualization. In this continuing series on nonsurgical management of the injured cruciate, I will begin by discussing joint injectates.
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UC Davis vets remove life-threatening tumor from koi fishOctober 18, 2018The University of California, Davis (UC Davis) veterinary hospital’s Aquatic Animal Health Unit of the Companion Exotic Animal Medicine and Surgery Service has removed a large tumor from Madonna, a six-year-old female koi fish’s distended abdomen.
When salivary gland removal is necessaryOctober 18, 2018Last month, I wrote about salivary gland anatomy. This time, we will look at conditions that may require salivary gland surgery and approaches to surgery of various salivary glands.
Nova Scotia outlaws cosmetic surgery on animals unless medically imperativeSeptember 24, 2018Nova Scotia has introduced changes to the Animal Protection Act intended to strengthen the welfare of livestock and companion animals in the province.
10 steps to a new in-practice procedureMay 15, 2018Incorporating a new procedure into your practice is a big deal. It’s not as simple as merely learning how to do something new. Follow these 10 steps to successfully implement a new surgical procedure in your practice.
UC Davis performs total hip replacement on champion show dogMarch 16, 2018Swiss Star's Chasing Moonbeams, aka Luna, a 1-year-old female Bernese mountain dog, recently jumped out of the window of a moving car. After Luna immediately showed lameness in her pelvic limb, co-owner Mary Beam had her examined. X-rays showed a break in the head of Luna's right femur, so she was referred to a local veterinary surgeon. After discovering that Luna was a champion show dog, the surgeon suggested Beam take her to see orthopedic surgeon Denis Marcellin-Little, DEDV, DACVS, DECVS, at the University of California Davis veterinary hospital. Dr. Marcellin-Little discussed three options for Luna. Option one included medical management with cage rest and pain medication, to let the hip heal on its own. However, this option brought an increased risk of persistent hip joint instability and osteoarthritis. Option two was a femoral head osteotomy, a surgery that would relieve the pain and discomfort, but involved a high risk of causing an abnormal gait. Beam chose option three, a total hip replacement. This more-involved surgery would give Luna the best chance of returning to a normal gait and preventing osteoarthritis in the long term. After serving on the faculty at North Carolina State University for 23 years, Marcellin-Little …
10 mistakes to avoid during surgeryDecember 12, 2017All kinds of sticky situations can be avoided by following a simple set of rules during the various steps of surgery, from the incision to the last suture.
Surgical sterilization, neutering options for male cats, dogsNovember 21, 2017Strong support exists for the view that gonadectomy has a net health benefit for female dogs and cats, but it is less clear that neutering benefits individual males. The risks of some diseases occurring are reduced or eliminated by neutering (for example, testicular neoplasia, benign prostatic hypertrophy), but other disease appear to be more common in neutered males, though risk varies by breed and age at neutering (e.g., cranial cruciate ligament disease, feline interstitial cystitis).
When should you refer a surgical patient?September 15, 2017From a legal standpoint, any licensed veterinarian can perform any surgery on any patient. But just because you can doesn’t mean that you should.
Pros, cons of surgical sterilization, neutering options for femalesSeptember 14, 2017Among the most common surgical procedures in small animal practice are those for sterilization and neutering. The goal of these procedures is both to prevent reproduction and to provide a net health benefit for the patient that may include avoiding the risks of reproduction, reducing the incidence of those disease that are more common in intact animals, and reducing behaviors associated with intact status that can lead to relinquishment.
