| Laser
Surgery
Lasers beam animal surgery into
the 21st century
By
John Geary
In an episode of the latest Star Trek
series Enterprise, ship physician Dr.
Phlox uses very advanced 22nd century
surgical techniques to save the life of
Captain Archer’s beagle, Porthos.
While we haven’t quite reached that
stage of medical advancement yet, animal
surgery is warping into new territory
as we move farther into the 21st century.
One technique that is experiencing tremendous
growth is laser surgery.
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| Less pain
and blood loss are two of the advantages
of laser surgery, demonstrated here
by Dr. Janet Biggar. |
For more than
30 years surgeons have used lasers on
humans, but improved technology has made
compact, more affordable lasers available
to veterinarians. As a result, increasing
numbers of vets are turning to lasers
to help improve the quality of life for
companion animals.
The laser most commonly used in pet surgery
is a carbon dioxide (CO2) laser. Veterinarians
find they possess many advantages over
conventional surgery.
Dr. Kirk Prince, BSc, DVM, owner and operator
of the Heartland Veterinary Clinic in
Airdrie, Alberta says pain reduction is
the biggest advantage from the animal’s
standpoint.
“The laser seals the blood vessels
and nerves as it cuts, unlike a scalpel
blade,” says Prince. “Because
they’re sealed post-operatively,
the animals are a lot more comfortable
and tend not to bother the incisions as
much.”
Reduced blood loss is another advantage
to laser surgery, as it allows for better
visibility, meaning the veterinarian can
operate more efficiently and effectively.
This is particularly useful for surgery
on birds and other small animals, where
vets cite blood loss as a crucial concern.
“Those animals really don’t
have a lot of blood volume to spare, and
any blood loss can be devastating,”
says Dr. Noel Lopez, DVM., MS, DABLS of
the Boston Road Animal Clinic in Sutton,
Massachusetts. “Using a surgical
laser minimizes the blood loss and the
potential of death from blood loss.”
Lasers can speed up some surgical procedures,
reducing the need for anesthesia. And
with less discomfort after the operation,
patients don’t require as many post-surgical
painkillers.
Dr. Jeffrey Moll, BSc, DVM, one of two
veterinarians at the Christensen Animal
Hospital, located in Wilmette, Illinois,
is also the president of the Veterinary
Laser Surgical Society. Moll explains
laser surgery allows the veterinary surgeon
to better “direct the energy.”
“That means we can use it in minimally
invasive procedures, as well as cut in
restrictive spaces,” he says. “For
example, taking a tumor out of a cat’s
middle ear conventionally involved slicing
open the whole ear. Now we’re able
to introduce a laser fiber through a scope,
and remove the tumor through the scope,
which results in a very minimal debilitation.”
Lasers also enable veterinarians to perform
surgeries they might have hesitated to
perform previously, particularly on small
animals like birds or ferrets.
“If you want to remove a papilloma
from a parrot or an adrenal tumor from
a ferret, laser is absolutely the way
to go,” says Moll. “It makes
those procedures possible. Doing an adrenalectomy
on a ferret conventionally is a fairly
complicated procedure, whereas with a
laser, it’s fairly easy.”
Laser surgery is not restricted to complex
surgeries. Veterinarians routinely use
lasers to spay and neuter dogs and cats.
With lasers, the animals rarely bother
the incisions, reducing the need for the
use of collars to prevent licking or chewing.
Some vets also report lasers better control
infection and the spread of cancer cells.
The laser operates at 2000° F, killing
infection-causing bacteria on contact.
This can prove very beneficial in areas
where contamination is hard to control
as in abscesses and ear infections. Since
the laser in effect vaporizes cells rather
than moving through them as a scalpel
does, cancer cells will be less likely
to detach during the procedure and spread
to other parts of the body through the
lymphatic system. This makes laser surgery
particularly useful for tumor removal.
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