Variables associated with the prevalence of self-reported work-related musculoskeletal disorders in veterinary laparoscopic surgeons.

Objective: To investigate the relationship between physical attributes and difficulty performing laparoscopic maneuvers with the prevalence of self-reported musculoskeletal injury.

Study Design: Online survey.

Sample Population: Surgeons (n = 140) with 3 or more years of laparoscopic experience.

Variables affecting surgeons' use of, and preferences for, instrumentation in veterinary laparoscopy.

Objective: To investigate the impact of variables on use and preference of common laparoscopic instruments.

Study Design: Online survey.

Sample Population: Surgeons (n = 140) with 3 years or more laparoscopic experience.

Comparison of ultrasound-guided and landmark-based techniques for central venous catheterization via the external jugular vein in healthy anesthetized dogs.

OBJECTIVE To compare time to achieve vascular access (TTVA) between an ultrasound-guided technique (UST) and landmark-based technique (LMT) for central venous catheter (CVC) placement in healthy anesthetized dogs. ANIMALS 39 purpose-bred hounds. PROCEDURES Anesthetized dogs that were hemodynamically stable following completion of a terminal surgical exercise were enrolled in the study during 2 phases, with a 45-day intermission between phases.

Evaluation of learning curves for ovariohysterectomy of dogs and cats and castration of dogs.

OBJECTIVE To define learning curves for fourth-year veterinary students performing ovariohysterectomy procedures in dogs and cats and castration in dogs. DESIGN Retrospective study. SAMPLE 3,196 ovariohysterectomies or castrations performed in dogs and cats by 88 veterinary students during a spay-neuter surgery and animal shelter rotation (n = 3,056) or by 1 experienced general practitioner (n = 140).

Single layer cystotomy closure of excised porcine bladders with barbed versus smooth suture material.

Objective: To determine which of 2 suture materials would be superior in terms of closure time and leakage pressure in open single-layer cystotomy closure.

Study Design: Experimental study.

Animals: Twenty-four freshly harvested porcine urinary bladders.

Effects of topical application of silver sulfadiazine cream, triple antimicrobial ointment, or hyperosmolar nanoemulsion on wound healing, bacterial load, and exuberant granulation tissue formation in bandaged full-thickness equine skin wounds.

OBJECTIVE To determine the effects of 3 topically applied treatments (1% silver sulfadiazine cream [SSC], triple antimicrobial ointment [TAO], and hyperosmolar nanoemulsion [HNE]) on microbial counts, exuberant granulation tissue (EGT) development, and reepithelialization of contaminated wounds at the distal aspect of the limbs of horses. ANIMALS 8 healthy adult horses. PROCEDURES A 2.

Teaching veterinary anesthesia and surgery: the impact of instructor availability on anesthesia, operative, and recovery times in dogs undergoing ovariohysterectomy or castration.

Veterinary students learning to perform elective ovariohysterectomy (OVH) and castration procedures have traditionally been taught by a few instructors supervising many student groups simultaneously. This study, using a historical control group, explored the impacts of having a dedicated instructor with each student group for anesthetic induction and an entire surgical procedure. Our hypothesis was that preparation, surgical, and anesthesia times would be shorter and, consequently, post-operative recovery times would be shorter with a dedicated instructor compared to traditional methods.

Biofilm-infected wounds in a dog.

Case Description: A 4-year-old spayed female Mastiff was evaluated for treatment of chronic nonhealing pressure wounds over both elbow regions resulting from attempts at hypertrophic callus excision.

Clinical Findings: The wound bed granulation tissue was mottled red and yellow with hyperemic, rolled epithelial edges. The right wound communicated with a large fluid pocket along the thoracic wall.

Service learning: Priority 4 Paws mobile surgical service for shelter animals.

The increasing attention given to competencies needed to enter the workforce has revealed a need for veterinary students to gain more experience in performing small-animal elective surgery before graduation. In addition, guidelines for standards of care for shelter animals recommend that all dogs and cats should be spayed or neutered before adoption. Teaching surgical skills while serving the needs of local animal shelters represents an ideal service-learning opportunity.

Deep sedation in natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (NOTES): a comparative study with dogs.

Background: Natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (NOTES) has been mostly performed with the animal under general and inhalational anesthesia (IA-NOTES). To date, NOTES using propofol sedation (PS-NOTES) has not been investigated. This study aimed to assess the feasibility and safety of PS-NOTES for transgastric oophorectomy with carbon dioxide insufflation and to compare its success rates with those of conventional IA-NOTES.

Transdiaphragmatic extension of a retroperitoneal lipoma into the intrathoracic extrapleural space via the lumbocostal trigone in a dog.

Case Description: An 8-year-old 12.2-kg (26.9-lb) spayed female American Cocker Spaniel was referred for evaluation of abdominal discomfort and a suspected intra-abdominal lipoma with possible invasion into the thorax.

Comparison of transvaginal natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (NOTES®) and laparoscopy for elective bilateral ovariectomy in standing mares.

Objective: To compare surgical trauma, perioperative pain, surgical time, and complication rate in mares undergoing standing bilateral ovariectomy by natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (NOTES) or laparoscopy.

Study Design: Experimental study.

Animals: Healthy mares (n = 12).

Pilot evaluation of a vacuum-assisted biopsy instrument for percutaneous renal biopsy in dogs.

Kidney biopsies in dogs are commonly obtained using automated spring-loaded biopsy instruments. Interpretation of biopsies from dogs with glomerular disease requires examination of at least 5-10 glomeruli, with at least two biopsies usually required for full evaluation. The purpose of this study was to compare quality and interpretability of renal biopsies obtained from healthy dogs with a large-gauge, vacuum-assisted biopsy instrument versus two biopsies obtained with a spring-loaded biopsy needle.

Standing ovariectomy in mares using a transvaginal natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (NOTES®) approach.

Objective: To develop and assess the feasibility of standing transvaginal Natural Orifice Transluminal Endoscopic Surgery (NOTES®) ovariectomy in the mare.

Study Design: Descriptive study.

Animals: Mares (n=10).

Results of biopsy via transurethral cystoscopy and cystotomy for diagnosis of transitional cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder and urethra in dogs: 92 cases (2003-2008).

Objective: To assess the diagnostic utility of transurethral cystoscopic biopsy in dogs with histologically confirmed transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) of the urinary bladder and urethra.

Design: Retrospective case series.

Animals: 92 dogs with histologically confirmed TCC.

An alternative pathway electrosurgical unit injury in a dog.

Objective: To report esophageal perforation, caused by alternative current pathway from the use of a monopolar electrosurgery unit (ESU), during routine orthopedic surgery in a dog.

Study Design: Clinical report.

Animals: Two-year-old male Labrador retriever.

Identification of low and high frequency ranges for heart rate variability and blood pressure variability analyses using pharmacological autonomic blockade with atropine and propranolol in swine.

Understanding autonomic nervous system functioning, which mediates behavioral and physiological responses to stress, offers great potential for assessing farm animal stress and welfare. Evaluation of heart rate variability (HRV) and blood pressure variability (BPV), using time and frequency domain analyses may provide a sensitive and reliable measure of affective states and stress-mediated changes in sympathetic and parasympathetic tones. The aim of this research was to define low (LF) and high frequency (HF) power spectral ranges using pharmacological autonomic blockade, and to examine HRV and BPV parameter changes in response to atropine and propranolol in swine.

Efficacy of oral transmucosal and intravenous administration of buprenorphine before surgery for postoperative analgesia in dogs undergoing ovariohysterectomy.

Objective: To compare the efficacy of preoperative administration of buprenorphine (via oral transmucosal [OTM] and IV routes) for postoperative analgesia in dogs undergoing ovariohysterectomy.

Design: Prospective, randomized, blinded study.

Animals: 18 dogs undergoing routine ovariohysterectomy.

Evaluation of minimally invasive excisional brain biopsy and intracranial brachytherapy catheter placement in dogs.

Objective: To evaluate a technique for minimally invasive excisional brain biopsy and intracranial brachytherapy catheter placement in dogs.

Animals: 5 healthy adult female dogs.

Procedures: Computed tomographic guidance was used to plan a biopsy trajectory to a selected area of brain with reference to a localizer grid.

Feasibility of contrast-enhanced ultrasound-guided biopsy of sentinel lymph nodes in dogs.

Our goal was to develop and validate a technique to identify the sentinel lymph nodes of the mammary glands of healthy dogs with contrast-enhanced ultrasound, and evaluate the feasibility of obtaining representative samples of a sentinel lymph node under ultrasound guidance using a new biopsy device. Three healthy intact female adult hounds were anesthetized and each received an injection of octafluoropropane-filled lipid microspheres and a separate subcutaneous injection of methylene blue dye around a mammary gland. Ultrasound was then used to follow the contrast agent through the lymphatic channel to the sentinel lymph node.

Comparison of pain and postoperative stress in dogs undergoing natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery, laparoscopic, and open oophorectomy.

Background: Few studies are available to compare the potential benefits of natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (NOTES) approaches to traditional surgery.

Objective: To compare complications, surgical stress, and postoperative pain.

Design: Prospective study in dogs.

Gastrointestinal laparoscopy in small animals.

Since 1999, when the author first described the research and potential applications of minimally invasive gastrointestinal surgery in animals, veterinarians have begun to apply some of these techniques in treating client owned animals. Minimally invasive surgery is advocated with diagnostic, prophylactic, and therapeutic intent. There has been a transition from a minimally invasive caseload toward the expansion of diagnostic procedures, adoption of prophylactic procedures (such as lap-assisted gastropexy), and performing more difficult therapeutic procedures.

Mucinous gastric carcinoma with abdominal carcinomatosis and hypergastrinemia in a dog.

A 12-year-old, spayed female Australian cattle dog was evaluated for a 5-month history of progressive vomiting. Abdominal radiographs and ultrasound revealed significant gastric wall thickening and a peripancreatic mass, and serum gastrin concentration was increased (127 pg/mL, reference range 10 to 40 pg/mL). Surgical exploration of the abdomen revealed a thickened, firm, and irregular gastric fundus, pylorus, and antrum; nodules were present throughout the spleen and mesentery adjacent to the left limb of the pancreas.

Oophorectomy by natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery: feasibility study in dogs.

Background: Natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (NOTES) represents a potentially less-invasive alternative to conventional or laparoscopic surgery.

Objective: Our purpose was to develop a canine oophorectomy model for prospective evaluation of intraoperative complications, surgical stress, and postoperative pain and recovery with NOTES.

Design: Feasibility study.

An MRI-compatible semiautomated vacuum-assisted breast biopsy system: initial feasibility study.

Purpose: To develop an MR-compatible vacuum-assisted core needle breast biopsy system.

Materials And Methods: A vacuum-assisted breast biopsy system (Mammotome Hand Held; Ethicon Endo-Surgery, USA) was modified for freehand MRI-guided biopsy in an open, interventional 0.5-T scanner (Signa SP; GE, USA).