Questions and Answers About Veterinary Laser Surgery

What medical procedures have been enhanced using the Accuvet laser?

Most all of our routine procedures can be done better with a laser. The patients are obviously more comfortable and much happier after a laser procedure than the same one done by conventional blade methods. In fact, I am so impressed with the patient results that I now find myself approaching a point where I no longer want to make laser use an option, but rather a requirement for some procedures.

I'd like to see all cat declawing done with the laser. Doing a declaw with a blade seems almost inhumane now. I can easily see why professional cat breeders who are familiar with laser methods seek out veterinary clinics with lasers for their own cats' declaw surgery.

Something I didn't expect was greater comfort for patients getting spayed or neutered. Having started doing more with the laser I have seen patients that are so relatively comfortable postoperatively that they act as though they had nothing done. These patients return to their regular routines much faster than pets that are done with conventional blade surgical methods.

It makes me feel badly for those that are done any other way than with a laser. Although we now have better drugs to help with pain in pets, these drugs do not always alleviate post-surgical pain nearly as well as we would like. Also, now that we have become better at recognizing pain in our patients, the difference in pain experienced by the pet receiving drugs after a standard blade procedure vs. the pet having the same procedure done with a laser is incomparable.

Are there any procedures your AccuVet laser allows you to do that you previously avoided?

The removal of the anal glands is very beneficial to some dogs. In the past it was such a tedious procedure, and one that caused so much postoperative discomfort for the patient, that I almost dreaded having to perform it. Now I do it without any hesitation. Done with the Accuvet laser, the surgical procedure can be done more quickly, and most important of all, two days after the surgery the patient usually acts like it had nothing done. The difference in recovery time is remarkable.

Another more common procedure that I disliked was skin tumor removal on tight skinned places like the ears and feet, especially the toes. On these locations removal with a blade or with electrocautery frequently left the patient with a wound that was difficult if not impossible to close. Using the Accuvet laser the nodule is gone, the area is adequately sealed and because the laser caused shrinkage of the surrounding collagen, the remaining site is smaller than the original lesion.

Dogs with multiple small skin tumors always posed a problem also. If done by conventional methods the poor dogs went home with patchwork shaved spots all over their bodies and lots of little areas with stitches. Now, they don't require shaving and there are no stitches, but the bumps are gone.

Another area that we are just now beginning to explore further is surgery around the eye. I have always had a special interest in eye problems and have done numerous surgeries to remove tumors and masses from the eyelids. It appears to be another area where we can make things easier for the patient.

Some pets have a tremendous problem with tears spilling over the eyelid and down onto the face causing staining and sometimes a very offensive odor. This condition of tear spilling is called "epiphora" and is common to smaller breeds like Poodles and Pomeranians, some terrier breeds, occasionally Shelties, and a few others. In a high percentage of cases the tearing occurs when the eyelid is rotated slightly inward at the inner corner near the nose, resulting in partial closure of the drainage apparatus of the eyes. There is a technique we've started using to shrink the tissue of the eyelid at this location and turn the eyelid back to a more normal position. This then re-opens the tear duct and allow the tears to flow into the nose as they are supposed to do, thus slowing or stopping the spillage onto the face. So far we have been pleased with the results from this procedure.

What impact has your Accuvet laser had on the practice?

It's been the most exciting addition to my practice ever. It has been a great pleasure discovering how much better we can care for our patients. I have been more stimulated about practice than I have been in quite a while. It has been the most rewarding piece of equipment I have ever obtained for the practice because it allows me to do things I couldn't or didn't want to do. I worry a lot less about the difficulty of alleviating pain with drugs in the patient after a procedure. If done with the laser, I know the patient is not likely to be experiencing much pain compared to the way we previously would have done the same procedure.

How often is your Accuvet laser used?

Depending upon our surgery case load, our Accuvet laser gets used somewhere between 1 and 7 times per week. On average it probably is used only twice a week. However, as we are discovering more of its patient benefits I think it is becoming easier to convince clients that it is the best way to go. So I expect its frequency of use to increase in the future.

What does your staff think about the laser?

My staff has been positive about it since the beginning, but just like the doctors, it has taken a greater accumulation of cases to really see how much better the patient does following a laser procedure.