[Introduction] [Declaws] [Gum Lesion] [Skin Tumor] [Ear Amputation] [Dog Neuter] [Ear Hematoma] [Ear Tumor] [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.
This is a frequent request by people that want to keep their cats indoors.
Prior to the introduction of the carbon dioxide laser declaws were done with a scalpel blade or a nail trimmer. At our clinic, we had only performed a declaw with a scalpel blade. It is a very precise surgical procedure that our doctors have performed thousands of times. Unfortunately, the post operative period was painful, the feet were bandaged, and most cats had to stay in the hospital for several days. In older cats, this surgery was even harder on the them as it took longer for them to heal.
The advent of declaws with the laser surgery has substantially minimized these drawbacks. There is usually no bleeding during the surgery, a tourniquet is no longer used, bandages are used, and most pets go home the following day. Bandages are still used for one day, not to keep pressure on the paws to keep them from bleeding, but to protect the surgery site from normal activity because the patient feels so good after surgery !! Most of the declaw patients can go home the day after surgery but we prefer to keep them for at least overnight to restrict their physical activity.
Most cats have so little pain or discomfort they are jumping and running before nature has had time to complete the healing process. Always restrict their activity at home for the first few days to prevent this problem. We recommend that you use a shredded newspaper or recycled newspaper as a litter substitute for one week postoperatively.
This cat's nails have grown into its pads due to the owner's inability to care for it properly. This is a painful situation and makes him a candidate for a front declaw.
The following pictures are from an actual declaw.
The laser beam (it is invisible to the naked eye) has started the incision at the top of the toe. It will cut through skin and tendons along with ligaments in between the digits. Bone is not cut during the procedure.
As the surgery progresses the sides of the nail where the ligaments are located are cut.
The surgery is complete with no bleeding or trauma to any bone. The top arrow in this picture points to the bone at the joint of the 2nd knuckle. The bottom arrow points to the intact pad that has not been touched either. A drop of surgical tissue glue will be put on the pad to cover the end of the bone.
This is what the foot looks like immediately after surgery. There is no bleeding or swelling and bandages are not needed.
Pets commonly get lesions on the gum tissue in their mouths. Some of these lesions are benign while others are malignant. Some of them cause severe inflammation and pain, a problem that is prevalent in cats. The laser beam excels at removing some of these oral lesions.
This dog has a large growth (arrow) that is covering its tooth. At this time we do not know if it is benign or malignant, so it should be removed.
The growth is being removed with the laser beam. The jaw is upside down compared to the picture above. This is for better surgical access.
There is no bleeding during the procedure. The laser beam also neutralizes the bacteria that are rampant in the mouth. There will be no need for stitches or post surgical antibiotics in this case. The gums will return to their normal pink color in a very short time. This pet has no need for pain medication and it had its normal appetite upon returning home.
The laser is particularly beneficial in amputations. Its ability to minimize bleeding allows the surgery to progress much faster. This section shows the amputation of the ear of a dog that has a Mast Cell tumor. This is a malignant tumor that requires aggressive surgery if it is to be controlled.
Ears are very vascular and bleed extensively when they are cut. As you can see from this picture taken at the beginning of the procedure there is no bleeding.
Four weeks postoperatively healing is complete.
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.
Ear Tumor Return to Top
Lasers are particularly beneficial in removing tumors in hard to reach places. This dog has a tumor in its ear canal. The tumor is the cauliflower like growth just to the right of the arrow.
This is the appearance of the ear canal immediately after surgery. The lack of bleeding and the gentle nature of the laser minimizes irritation to the sensitive structures in the ear canal.
This is the growth that was removed.
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.
