Laser Surgery means: Less pain, Less Bleeding, Less Swelling, Quicker Recovery. See the below demo!
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.
In the 1920s, Albert Einstein theorized that one day a laser device would be possible. However, it took forty years before the first working laser was built, and another decade before refined versions were adapted for use in medicine. 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.
Surgical lasers have revolutionized human medical specialties like Ophthalmology and Dentistry, and now Veterinarians are applying that same technology to treating their clients' pets. "The laser is an intense beam of light that replaces a scalpel in a number of our surgeries," explains Dr. Erica Syring of the Best Friend's Veterinary Center. "We can utilize the laser as a multipurpose tool because it can cut, cauterize, vaporize, or sterilize tissue." The way a LASER beam reacts with tissue is what makes it such an exceptional instrument. A LASER seals nerve endings and blood vessels as it cuts. "As a result," says Dr. Syring, "our patients, just like human laser patients, feel less pain and there is little to no bleeding." Nothing touches the tissue but a beam of light. "Because we employ a no-touch technique, there is very little swelling after surgery. With traditional methods, there is a small but unavoidable amount of tearing, crushing, and bruising that leads to postoperative edema."
"This is an exciting advance in the surgical options we can offer our clients," says Dr. Eric Anderson of the Best Friend's Veterinary Center. "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 LDP, or 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 much sooner, usually a day earlier. "I have also had to declaw older cats because of the immunological status of the owner, and LDP is ideal," adds Dr. Anderson. "We have used the LDP on a five year old cat, and the cat was acting totally normal the next day. We give post-surgical pain relief in all cases, for we know animals can remember pain like we do, but this cat had no need for home medications."
Dr. Anderson is widely recognized for his skills as an avian and exotic animal surgeon and finds that the surgical laser is vital to the practice: "Exotic animals and especially birds can tolerate only the most minimal blood loss. Because of the excellent blood-free characteristics of the laser, we can perform surgeries on birds that were previously too risky, and we can perform other procedures much more safely."
One of southern Florida's leading avian and exotic specialists, Dr. Theresa Parrott at the Animal Medical Center at Cooper City, Florida has pioneered the use of surgical lasers on avian and exotic patients. She's been able to perform surgeries that until now were unthinkable: "The CO2 laser's hemostatic capabilities have made new avian and exotic animal surgical procedures possible--and others more successful." Dr. Parrott reports that there are other advantages as well. "Surgeries can be done faster. And because there is little pain, swelling and bleeding, healing time and hospitalization stays are reduced."
Below are several advantages to the CO2 laser surgery:
The decision to use laser during surgery is made
only by one of our doctors and you. Lasers 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. 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, 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 litter 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.
Warts 
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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 immediately after it has been ablated by the laser. There is no need for sutures in this case.
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.
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.
Dog Neuter Return
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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 Tumor Return
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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.
