Introduction
Our staff loves pot bellied pigs!
At the Long Beach Animal Hospital we use the surgical laser for neuters, and the reason will be obvious when you read this page.
Sometimes people get a jaded mindset when it comes to routine surgeries like neuters, that are performed by the thousands, especially at low cost spay and neuter clinics. It is a major surgery, and we treat it as such at the Long Beach Animal Hospital, which you will learn about in this page.
One of the more interesting surgeries we perform is a pig neuter, know medically as an orchectomy. It has similarities to neutering other animals, particularly dogs, yet it is not the same thing as a dog neuter. You should not try this surgery at home….
Several days prior to any surgery please bring in your pet for a preanesthetic exam and blood panel to confirm your pet is ready for anesthesia. At that time one of our doctors will go over any questions you have.
On the day of surgery we need your pet in the hospital between 7:30 AM and 8 AM. Please take away all food and water when you go to bed the evening before surgery, and do not give your pig anything to eat or drink the morning of surgery. It will go home in the late afternoon the day of surgery. Please call our office at 4 PM for pickup time, you will be given post operative instructions then.
Our surgeon will call you after the surgery is complete and your pig is awake. It can go home in the late afternoon the day of surgery unless instructed otherwise. Please call our office at 4 PM for pickup time, you will be given written post operative instructions then. We are open in the evening if you need to pick up later.
This is Bailey, our victim (oops, we mean patient). Isn’t he just cute enough to hug!
Advantages of Laser Surgery
With the laser there is dramatically less bleeding during the surgery. This means the surgery can be performed faster, hence less anesthetic time, and better safety.
The laser advantages extend to after surgery. It is during the immediate post operative period, that pets feel pain and the area is inflamed. The laser dramatically reduces pain, swelling, and inflammation after surgery.
We calibrate it at the beginning or our surgeries
You can learn much more about the surgical laser from this link.
Pre-Surgery Preparation
Pre-anesthetic preparation is important in every surgery we perform, no matter how routine. All of our neuters receive a pre-anesthetic test several days prior to surgery.
All of our surgery patients are given a thorough exam well before surgery
This is a normal pot bellied pig blood panel obtained prior to surgery
Anesthesia
Our anesthetic form keeps a record of everything we do
Our exam continues when our patient is brought into surgery
Pigs need to be monitored carefully for overheating (called malignant hyperthermia0 during anesthesia, which is the opposite of most anesthetized animals. They produce more body heat relative to other animals because of their large muscle mass. Pigs do not sweat or pant, they need to be in contact with something cool to rid of excess body heat. Because of this we constantly monitor their temperature during and after the surgery.
We keep a close tab on important physiologic parameters for all of our surgeries. Monitors like this give us an early warning of an impending problem.
We like to monitor the blood pressure and heart rate during surgery of our patients
We also like to keep track of the oxygen saturation with the pulse oximeter
Even with all of this high tech equipment we like to be hands on when monitoring anesthesia
Surgical Preparation
This is a sterile abdominal surgery, and our surgeon starts the pre-surgical process by using special soap to clean his hands.
He washes his hands several times with the surgical soap and brush before putting on sterile gloves
While our patient is being anesthetized our surgeon is already in our surgical suite setting up instruments. Our surgeon is ready to start before our patient is at a proper plane of anesthesia. Once the anesthetist gives the green light the surgery starts immediately. We want our surgeon waiting for his patient, not the other way around. All of this is to minimize anesthetic time.
While our patient is being anesthetized our surgeon is already in our surgical suite setting up instruments.
Our surgeon is ready to start before our patient is completely prepped. Once the anesthetist gives the green light the surgery starts immediately. We want our surgeon waiting for his patient, not the other way around. All of this is to minimize anesthetic time.
Surgery
When everything is in order we will give a sedative. This will calm Bailey down and make the administration of the actual anesthetic, along with post operative recovery, much smoother. Once a pet is anesthetized, prepared for surgery, and had its monitoring equipment hooked up and reading accurately, the surgery can begin.
Time to be brought into surgery by our anesthetist
Anesthetized and ready for surgery
Bailey is being readied for surgery. His anesthesia has been given and we are ready for our surgical prep.
Draped and ready for the procedure to begin
The initial laser incision. Note the lack of blood.
There is no bleeding from the the skin incision when we use the laser. This is an advantage for the surgeon and the patient.
The testicle bulges out of the incision cover by its internal layers called tunics
The testicle is carefully exteriorized giving us access to the base where the blood vessels reside
Special suture is used to tie off the blood supply before we remove the testicle
The blood supply is so extensive we use more than one strong suture. These sutures will dissolve over the next several months.
As a comparison, this is what a testicle looks like when the laser is not used. This is the old fashioned way, and we do not use this method any more due to the bleeding and post operative pain and inflammation.
The sutures we place in the skin are removed in 10 days.
Bailey is a little groggy right after the surgery, but at least he is feeling minimal pain. This is because we use the laser and we gave him post-operative medication for pain.
His post op temperature is normal, so he is ready to be moved to recovery
We keep a close eye on our patients as they are waking up from anesthesia
Postoperative Care
Most pigs go home late in the afternoon on the day we perform the surgery. They might be groggy from the pain injection which is advantageous because they will remain calm and allow the healing process to start immediately. By the following morning the grogginess will have worn off.
When you first get home do not be in a big rush to feed. After 1 hour at home offer a small amount of food and water. If the appetite is good, offer more several hours later. Do not over do the feeding the first night because anesthesia can make them nauseous.
Keep contact with children and other pets to a minimum the first night, and restrict activity for several days to allow the incision to heal. Try not let your pig go outside until healing is complete.
Laser Surgery
Using the laser has many advantages over using a scalpel blade. These include negligible bleeding during the procedure and post operative pain. Our Laser Page has detailed information on the use of the laser for various surgeries.