Laser Surgery

Laser Surgery means: Less pain, Less Bleeding, Less Swelling, Quicker Recovery.  A rapidly growing number of Washington veterinarians are among the first in the world to offer surgical laser capabilities for animals. Once only the dream of science fiction writers, the power of a laser can now be harnessed to provide a wide variety of veterinary surgical applications with truly amazing results.  We are very experienced at Best Friend's Veterinary Center having used the laser on over  1,000 procedures in the last 5 years.

The word LASER is an acronym for "Light Amplification by the Stimulated Emission of Radiation." In effect, a laser beam is a highly concentrated and powerful beam of light that interacts with tissue in some remarkable ways. Veterinarians use Carbon Dioxide (CO2) lasers because of their incredible precision. The laser beam is so accurate that an area less than one millimeter in diameter can be treated, while scarcely affecting surrounding tissue. This is extremely important in lesions and tumors around the eyes and in the mouth. Laser surgery has a number of advantages over traditional cutting and cauterizing surgical techniques in that there is little or no bleeding, virtually no swelling, minimal pain for pets post-surgically, and such precision that only diseased tissue is removed. Veterinarians are able to control the power of the laser to make it gentle enough to work on the surface of the eye, yet powerful enough to make an incision in a horse.

"This is an exciting advance in the surgical options we can offer our clients," says Dr. Eric Anderson. "We see many geriatric pets, especially dogs, who have skin warts and tumors that are disfiguring to the pets and unsightly to the owners. The laser allows us to remove these with little or no sedation and only local anesthesia, and the pet can go home within hours. In major surgeries, the laser minimizes bleeding, swelling and trauma as it seals nerves and the blood and lymphatic vessels as it incises. This is the same laser being used in dermatological and other surgeries in humans."

A dramatic use of the laser is for our Laser Declaw Procedure. LDP is a state-of-the-art technique that eliminates bleeding, swelling and most of the pain associated with older methods. The cat does not require the customary suturing and tight bandaging after the procedure and can go home one day after the procedure.

Below are several advantages to the CO2 laser surgery:

1. Pain Reduction
Your pet will experience significantly less post operative pain in almost every instance. As a matter of fact, the pain reduction is so great that we have a videotape available of our own cat declaw surgery patients that clearly demonstrates the difference in post operative pain between traditional scalpel blade surgery and laser surgery. Laser surgery is going to revolutionizing how cat declaws are done. Result of the unique characteristics of the laser beam as it cuts nerve endings, preventing the raw ends that are characteristic of scalpel blades.
 
2. Swelling Reduction
Whenever an incision is made in tissue with either a scalpel blade or scissors inflammation is started in the affected tissue. This inflammation is a result of interaction with the circulatory and lymphatic systems. Because the laser beam effectively cauterizes the lymphatic system there is much less post operative swelling. This makes your pet much more comfortable while it is recovering from surgery.
 
3. Control of Infection
The laser beam operates at a temperature of over 2000 degrees Fahrenheit. Essentially bacteria are vaporized by contact with the laser beam. This makes it highly effective at killing bacteria that have the potential to cause an infection. This is particularly important in areas where it is difficult to prevent bacteria from contaminating the surgical site.
 
4. Minimal Surgical Bleeding
When an incision is made with a scalpel blade small blood vessels are cut in the skin and the layer of tissue just under the skin. These blood vessels can ooze throughout the surgery and even postoperatively. Traditionally they are taken care of by clamping them with hemostats, cauterizing, or holding gauze sponges on them until they stop. All of these procedures take time, which means the surgery takes longer and there is more postoperative swelling. The laser beam is a highly effective coagulator of small blood vessels. Less bleeding during surgery means less anesthetic time and faster recovery time.
 
5. Minimizing Spread Of Cancer Cells During Surgery
The laser beam effectively cauterizes the lymphatic system which helps drain tissue debris from surgery sites. Because the laser cuts by vaporizing cells rather than pushing through cells, there is less chance for cancer cells to break off during surgery and spread to other parts via the lymphatics. It is for this reason that we make tumor removals mandatory with the laser.