There has been some discussion lately about a potentially advantageous "new" procedure in veterinary medicine. It's not really new, but almost unvisited and unused in the United States. The June cover article for Veterinary Medicine is a helpful discussion of and how-to guide to performing ovariectomies. Yes, that's right, I said OVARIECTOMY, not ovariohysterectomy.
But how could you leave uterus? Won't the patient be at risk for pyometra or uterine cancer later in life? You might be surprised at the answers that Dr. Eric Ehrhhardt has and the advantages he discusses. With helpful pictures and an entire "How to" section, you should be easily able to attempt your first ovariectomy....if you choose to. There are even some alternative techniques online here to try if you'd like.
So what about you all? WILL you try it? Why or why not? Have you already tried it? What was your experience?
I have had to go in and remove pyometras from both of the cats that I've met that had oves. After prepping it takes me 3 to 5 minutes to do a spay, can you really do an ove that fast? I also have had both a hysterecto
There is no reason to consider this procedure at all unless you wish to shift the income you derive from spaying dogs to a glutted specialist
Most vets in Europe spay dogs..uter
A recent study comparing open OVE and OVH found no difference
So why not remove the uterus and be done with it?
What does the author charge for doing a laparascop
How much longer are they under anesthesia
I haven't done an ovariectomy since yesterday. From reading the studies, It is my opinion that the major reason ovariectomy / ohe via laparoscopy vs open surgery is less painful the fact that the ovarian ligament is not ruptured laparscopicly. The study quoted that compared ohe vs ovariectomy open and concluded pain was the same has some problems.
As I remember the incsion size was the same and much larger than an experienced surgeon would make. I can't remember if the surgerons were students or not.
The key for pain avoidance is not rupturing the ovarian ligament and size of incisionand keeping incision on the midline and out of the muscle. . If one makes the abdominal incsion on or just caudal to umbilics in dogs and one uses the Dowling Spay Retractor a canine ovariectomy can be easily done through a 2 in incision. This is approximately the same length as of incisions that a 2 port laparoscopic procedure would require. One may not be able to exteriorize the body of the uterus easily here so ovariectomy is the choice. If the body of the uterus can be exteriorized without difficulty do an ohe because you only have to do 3 ligatures instead of 4 which is time savings.
I have a scope and do laparoscopic gastropexies but can't justify the time to do spays with it.
After 15 years in practice, I started doing OVE as my routine method of spaying a dog. I then took classes and starting doing laparoscopic OVE's. I chose this method initially out of boredom of the old method of an open spay. What the article doesn't discuss that I have found is that the big difference in open vs lap method of OVE is for the older, larger dogs. Anyone who has done a full grown or overweight large breed dog such as a lab or rottie knows the agravation and time spent dealing with the extra fat and blood vessels. Even an open OVE is much faster and less traumatic to the patient than an OHE. Having a table top rotator which allows the patient to be rotated 90 degrees on either side lets all the abdomenal contents move nicely out of the way so the ovary is plainly visible and easily accessible. The laparoscopic OVE is even easier. The largest of dogs still has an ovary that will fit through a 5mm incision. The patient not only recovers faster and with significantly less pain but also goes home with no external sutures and no e-collar. The patient can return to normal activity the very next day. Yes the equipment has an initial expense and the doctor must receive extra training but it is better medicine for the patient. The same equipment can be used for exploratories, intestinal biopsies, liver biopies, cystotomies, gastropexy and more. The investment in better patient care is far more justifiable than a laser which has very limited use.
If you are only spaying very young dogs, you might not see the benefits or feel there is less trauma with laparoscopic OVE. If you are doing older, overweight dogs, the benefits are huge.
Edited by gatorvet, 11 months ago
As an endoscopic device developer in veterinary medicine for over 20 years I have followed these procedures closely. I agree with gatorvet's comments and belive this procedure is simply better medical care.
I recently opted to do laparoscopic OVE on my 2 year old 32 pound beagle. The procedure took 20 minutes and we used a HP Laptop from Staples on a mayo stand with the following equipment:
24 hours post OVE my dog was playing fetch in the back yard with my daughter.
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