Tools of the trade: Endodiagnostic + Surgical Suite (EDSS)

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EDSSby Dr Dave Nicol, Love That Pet, North Ryde, NSW

We’ve been performing keyhole surgery for the past three years and were the first veterinary practice in Australia to use the single-port technique. This specialist camera and surgical equipment allows us to explore and operate through a single tiny incision.

What’s good about it

The size of the incisions are anywhere from four to 15 times smaller than non-keyhole surgery and the surgery time for many operations is vastly reduced. This is great for pain control and post-operative recovery time. It also means fewer external stitches for the animal to chew so infection rates are lower.

One thing we hadn’t anticipated was how fast the animals recover and get back to normal. Sometimes it can be difficult to convince owners that their pet has had major surgery.

A couple of our clients took their dogs back to agility class straight after surgery—which gave me kittens! The dogs were fine but we now give fairly strict instructions about those first few days after surgery. From the clinical team’s perspective it’s a wonderful set of equipment and really adds value to the practice.

What’s not so good

Set-up costs for quality equipment and training are relatively high so there needs to be a plan to backup your investment. Many practices invest in technologies like ultrasound only for their scanner to end up gathering dust purely because it’s difficult to become proficient at scanning. Keyhole surgery is much the same—there needs to be a team level of commitment to learn the skills.

Where did you get it

Biovision Veterinary Endoscopy

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