I don't know whether
the Vet Schools teaches surgery audit nowadays but they
did not do that in the 1970s when I studied in Glasgow
University.
A surgery audit is important as it improves the surgical
and anaesthetic processes, productivity and efficiency
of the veterinary surgeon. A vet who takes a long time
to spay a female dog uses up more than necessary
anaesthetic gas and exposes the dog to a longer risk of
anaesthetic deaths.
So, I will be doing a surgery audit of the time taken by
a vet to spay a female dog at Toa Payoh Vets. To do
that, I have to research on how long it takes me to spay
a female dog. I have recorded two cases done earlier.
The details are at:
http://www.sinpets.com/F5/20110816domitor-ketamine-spay-fox-terrier-26minutes_ToaPayohVets.htm
In the two cases, the time between the first skin
incision and skin stitched up was 18 and 26
minutes respectively.
Now, in this case of the Shih Tzu I am reporting, the
time was 18 minutes as shown in the images below.
CONCLUSION
If the female dog is in surgical anaesthesia without
the need to top up, the time taken will be 18 minutes
based on 2 female dogs I had spayed. When the dog wakes
up in the middle of surgery and needs top up
isoflurane gas + oxygen, the time taken will be much
longer, e.g. 26 minutes as illustrated in my
first report. Without topping up, the surgery time is
shortened by as much as 8 minutes!
From the cases, the objective is to ensure that the dog
is given isoflurane gas + oxygen as maintenance, rather
than use IV anaesthesia of lowered dosage as in the case
that took 26 minutes. For my female dog spays in the
last 30 years of practice, I have had not used IV
anaesthesia as I believe my procedure should be the best
and safest. During the last 2 years, I change my mindset
and use IV anaesthesia in spaying female dogs as part of
continuing education.
18 minutes
will be the target for experienced vets doing spay in
Toa Payoh Vets. It is a standard to aim for as the
shorter the anaesthesia, the safer it is for the dog,
especially the older ones.
For cats and with the appropriate dosage, the surgery to
spay can be completed as fast as 5 minutes as the cat is
much smaller and generally, it is easier to hook out the
ovary. However, I need to properly record and document
that it is 5 minutes sometime later.
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TOA
PAYOH VETS
