Question about Laser Spaying

[Michelle K]

Hey, everyone! I did a search for laser spay, but didn't find anything. I may have worded the search wrong, so if this has been covered, could someone give me the link? I called the vet to go ahead and schedule Nykie's spay. She's 5 months old and my vet recommends waiting to closer to 6 months to make sure that everything is fully developed, so she's scheduled for June 20th. My question is about laser, though. From what the lady at the vet told me, it's easier on them because there is less bleeding and less pain. She said that the stitches stay in a couple of days longer, but I can request dissolvable stitches so I don't have to worry about it, which I have already requested. I want the safest way for her and less pain, but I want to make sure that it is done correctly and everything is ok. I've known this vet for about 18yrs, so I do trust him, but I'm a little nervous of trying something new without any comments from others that may have had it done. There is a $51 difference in cost, but I'm willing to pay that for the safest option. Do you have any input on this? Thanks!

[Pipedream Farm]

Laser surgery utilizes a laser to make the incisions instead of a knife. The heating generated right at the point of contact of the laser with the tissue cauterizes the small vessels reducing the amount of bleeding. IMO the quality of surgery with either technique is highly dependent upon the level of training and ability of the surgeon and less so on the technique itself.

 

Mark

[Michelle K]

Thank you very much for your input. The vet that does these surgeries is usually on top of things when it comes to new products and techniques, but I'm going to try to find out more about how long he's been doing these. My biggest problem, at this point, is finding someone locally that has had it done and can tell me what to expect.

[Liz P]

I absolutely would not let someone use a laser on my dog to cut the skin and muscles. I have seen lasers used in ORs and they are great for stopping bleeders, but not a good choice for some things. In a skilled surgeon's hands a scalpel causes less damage and pain. The laser heats up the skin, leaving behind a layer of burned flesh that dies, becoming inflamed and painful. A sharp scalpel should only leave behind live skin that will heal back together once sutured.

[Michelle K]

I absolutely would not let someone use a laser on my dog to cut the skin and muscles. I have seen lasers used in ORs and they are great for stopping bleeders, but not a good choice for some things. In a skilled surgeon's hands a scalpel causes less damage and pain. The laser heats up the skin, leaving behind a layer of burned flesh that dies, becoming inflamed and painful. A sharp scalpel should only leave behind live skin that will heal back together once sutured.

 

I never thought of it that way. I, myself, have had laser surgery and didn't have a problem. I do still have time to do more research. Thanks for the info!

[Liz P]

But what was the laser used for in your surgery? Lasers are great for removing growths or doing procedures via endoscope.

[Michelle K]

But what was the laser used for in your surgery? Lasers are great for removing growths or doing procedures via endoscope.

 

Removing Gall Bladder

[Liz P]

OK, but the doctor likely only used it to cut out the gall bladder. Ask your vet if the laser is used only to cut out the uterus or also to cut through tissues like the abdominal wall. It sounds like they are doing all the cutting with the laser if the stitches need to stay in longer (red flag).

[Northof49]

I absolutely would not let someone use a laser on my dog to cut the skin and muscles. I have seen lasers used in ORs and they are great for stopping bleeders, but not a good choice for some things. In a skilled surgeon's hands a scalpel causes less damage and pain. The laser heats up the skin, leaving behind a layer of burned flesh that dies, becoming inflamed and painful. A sharp scalpel should only leave behind live skin that will heal back together once sutured.

 

I have seen a lot of dogs that have had laser surgery for everything from entropion to spay/neuter, removal of skin cancers, huge massive lick granulomas, as our holistic vet does laser surgery, and there is much less pain, discomfort to these dogs. There is a fine line of "burned" flesh that disappears very quickly in the first 24 hours but the healing is faster and much less scar tissue develops.

 

My choice of surgery is now either laser surgery or arthroscopic surgery.

[Guest TheRuffMuttGang]

SoBe had his anal glands removed via laser surgery. I heard tons of horror stories about traditional anal gland removal surgeries but SoBe never so much as had a single issue after his laser surgery.

[Michelle K]

Thank you all for your input. I really do appreciate it! I'll have to do some more researching on it with my vet, because I want the best thing for my girl.

[BCjetta]

We have a laser at the vet clinic I work at. They use it wherever they would have used a scalpel blade. The laser is used to make the skin incision, ligate the blood vessels etc and cut the uterus out.

The skin does take longer to finish healing with the laser because of how it works. If the vet is not skilled, there can be problems with the incision not healing well (ie opening up). When the laser cuts, it leaves behind burnt bits they call char. The vet should use a saline soaked gauze sponge to clean the edges of the incision before closing it to make sure its nice and clean.

I'm still a bit iffy on whether I'd have the laser used on my dogs or not.

The benefits are less pain afterwards and less bleeding.

The downside is longer healing time for the incision.

[flrpwr52]

My vet used a laser for spaying my last 2 females and compared to using a blade, in my opinion, they had far less licking due to irratation and healed much quicker.

Kya will be getting spayed in the next few months and she will have laser surgery also.