Tag: surgery

Does Suture Material Affect Surgery Speed?

Gelding operations are among the most-performed surgical procedures in the equine veterinary world. Though this surgery has been performed for many years, there is always room for potential improvement.

Drs. Ditte Marie Top Adler, Stine Østergaard, Elin Jørgensen and Stine Jacobsen, of the University of Copenhagen, wanted to compare a new, barbed suture martial to traditional suture material that requires the surgeon to make multiple knots to keep the stitches in place. The barbed suture material has tiny barbs on the surface that lock the material in place, eliminating the need for knots. Manufacturers claim the barbs make the material more secure and increase the speed at which the castration can be performed.

The research team used 45 horses that were brought to The Large Animal Teaching Hospital at the University of Copenhagen for inguinal castrations; 24 of the horses were sutured with smooth material and 21 were sutured with the barbed material. The scientists then evaluated any complications while the horse was in and out of the hospital. They also compared how long it took the veterinarian to close the surgical wounds.

There were minor short-term complications; swelling was noted in 29 percent of the stallions that had the barbed suture material and in 33 percent of the horses that had the smooth suture material. Three horses required follow-up care for castration complications. One had scrotal swelling (barbed suture material had been used); one had a weeping wound (smooth suture material had been used); and one had the wound reopen (smooth suture material had been used).

Veterinarians using the barbed suture material were able to close the wound six minutes faster than using smooth suture material.

Though the cost of barbed suture material is higher, it reduced surgery time by 40 percent and it did not result in increased post-op complications.

Read the full article here.

Read more at HorseTalk.

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Care After Colic Surgery Should Be A Team Effort

Colic, a broad term that encompasses all forms of abdominal pain, is the No. 1 killer of horses. Mild cases can often be resolved with simple medical care, but some colic cases require surgical intervention to restore the horse to health. Horses that undergo colic surgery face additional risks, including anesthesia, the surgical procedure itself and the recovery time needed to get the horse back to the state of health he was in before the surgery.

Drs. Johannes van Loon, Emi Visser, Marjolein de Mik-van Mourik, Pieternel Kerbert, Tsjester Huppes and Eveline Menke, of Utrecht University in the Netherlands, reviewed clinical records of 283 horses that had colic surgery at the college's school of veterinary medicine. The team sought to determine survival and complication rates of horses that underwent surgery.

The scientists discovered that 59 percent of horses that had colic surgery at the college went home alive; 96 percent of those horses were alive one year later. However, more than half of the horses had one or two colic episodes in that year.

Nearly two-thirds of the horses regained their pre-colic surgery level of performance, but 46.2 percent of owners reported that the horses had gait-related issues or behaved differently than before they had the surgery.

The researchers suggest that improving the quality of care the horse received after surgery could drastically improve the horse's athletic performance and welfare. They also suggest collaboration with saddle fitters, physiotherapists and others who can work in together to return the horse to physical and mental health.

Read more at Equine Science Update.

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