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Westonka Animal Hospital |
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Westonka Animal Hospital |
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[Introduction] [Skin Tumor] [Dog Neuter] [Ear Hematoma] [Warts]
Westonka Animal Hospital is proud and excited to be one of the first private veterinary clinics in the country to provide one of the newest modalities in state of the art surgery. That is a carbon dioxide laser. This is a proven laser that has been around for 30 years. Only recently has it been adapted to veterinary medicine in a clinical setting.
There are several advantages to the CO2 laser surgery:
Except for tumor removals, where use of the laser beam is mandatory in our hospital, the decision to use laser during surgery is made only by one of our doctors and you, the client. Even though lasers are used effectively in many surgical procedures they are not used in every surgery. They are especially useful in oral surgery, ear surgeries, corneal ulcers, and amputations of small extremities.
The following sections give specific examples of the use of the carbon dioxide laser in our hospital.
Another area where it is highly advantageous to use the laser is removing skin tumors. On some of the small tumors the lesion can be completely ablated by the laser and there is no need for stitches. On larger skin tumors the coagulation of the small blood vessels minimizes operative bleeding. Just like in the declaw, these pets have less discomfort during the healing period because of the lack of raw nerve endings and less inflammation.
This skin tumor is on the back of a dog.
An elliptical incision is made around the growth to ensure that we completely remove the whole growth and there will be no puckering of the skin when sutures are placed.
Once the elliptical incision has been completed the underside of the tumor is removed down to healthy tissue. This ensures that we remove the whole tumor.
The tissue that remains has been cauterized. This kills additional tumor cells and helps kill bacteria. This "char" is gently wiped with saline soaked gauze to reveal healthy pink tissue underneath.
Four sutures are placed in the skin to complete the surgery. These will be removed in 10-14 days.
Dog Neuter 
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Routine surgeries like dog neuters can also be performed with the laser. The minimal bleeding and post operative pain control are major reasons to perform this surgery with the laser.
The skin incision, an area that is highly vascular in the dog, is started with the laser.
Once we are through the skin we encounter a layer of tissue that covers the testicle.
This layer is also cut with the laser, again with no apparent bleeding. We are now down to the last layer of tissue that covers the testicle.
The testicle bulges out of the incision as the last layer is cut. Cutting through all of these layers with the laser takes a little longer than the scalpel. The lack of bleeding, and of course the post operative decrease in pain, makes it worth it.
The testicle still has tissue attached to it that must be incised before the testicle can be completely pulled out through the incision. This tissue is clamped with a hemostat and cut with the laser (the arrow points to the tip of the laser). The testicle is under the surgeon's thumb. You can visualize the extensive blood supply of the testicle at the bottom of the screen as the testicle is gently pulled out of the incision. This is the area that will have 2 sutures placed around it
The testicle has now been fully released from its connecting tissue and has been pulled up and towards the left, exposing the start of its blood supply and the vas deferens (the white structure). You can see the tissue that was clamped with the hemostat and cut with the laser at the lower right of the incision (arrow).
The testicle has been cut, and the blood supply with its vas deferens, with 2 sutures around them, are gently placed back into the incision.
The neuter is now complete and the surgeon is getting ready to close the skin incision. If the surgeon decides to put in sutures that need removing, they will be removed in 10-14 days.
Ear Hematoma Return to Top
The laser works great for ear hematoma because a smaller opening is needed to drain the fluid. This minimizes scarring of the ear.
The laser has ability to selectively go through layers of tissue in a gentle and controlled fashion.
The opening made in the ear is small. Several of these small openings are usually needed to drain out the fluid that has built up in the ear.
This is the size of a typical opening in a ear hematoma when the laser is not used. This longer incision causes more scarring, more discomfort, and takes longer to suture.
Warts Return to Top
We are commonly presented with pets that have numerous warts throughout their bodies. They are found mostly in older pets, and are benign.
For these reasons we do not aggressively pursue their removal. We will remove them if they are bleeding, causing discomfort, are getting rapidly larger, or if we anesthetize a pet for some other reason that warrants anesthesia.
This is a typical wart on the back of a dachshund that has been anesthetized for its severe dental disease. While it is getting its teeth cleaned, the laser is used to rapidly ablate the wart.
The post operative appearance immediatley after it has been ablated by the laser. There is no need for sutures in this case.
