Veterinary Surgeon Dick White Referrals Six Mile Bottom, Cambridgeshire , England, United Kingdom
Harmonic Shears, Diode Laser, and Cut and Suture Technique for Staphylectomy in Brachycephalic Dogs – A Procedural and Histological Comparative Study. Conte A1, Berlato D2, Rasotto R2, Bass J3, Bussadori R4, Nicoli S5, Murgia D2. 1Torrington Orthopaedics, Brighouse, Huddersfield, United Kingdom; 2Dick White Referrals, Six Mile Bottom, Cambridge, United Kingdom; 3Finn Pathologists Laboratory, Diss, United Kingdom; 4Clinica Veterinaria ‘Gran Sasso’, Milano, Italy; 5AniCura - Istituto Veterinario di Novara, Granozzo con Monticello, Novara, Italy.
Partial staphylectomy in brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome (BOAS) dogs has traditionally been performed with the cutting and suturing technique. More recently, the procedure has been implemented with the aid of monopolar electrocoagulation, CO2 or diode laser (DLS), bipolar vessel sealing device, and harmonic shears (HSS). In this prospective study, differences in surgical time, intraoperative hemorrhage, and histological damage were compared between caudal staphylectomy performed with HSS, DLS, and traditional cutting and suturing technique with Metzenbaum scissors (SIS). We hypothesized that harmonic shears proved a valid alternative in reducing surgical times, intraoperative bleeding, and tissue damage. Thirty-seven dogs met the inclusion criteria: HSS group consisted of 17 dogs, while DLS and SIS groups included 10 dogs each. Duration of surgery and intraoperative bleeding were recorded, and specimens excised were evaluated by two blinded pathologists. The harmonic shears resulted in the shortest surgical times (HSS: 46 s, DLS: 300 s, SIS: 360 s; P < 0.001). There was a difference in the intraoperative hemorrhage amongst the three techniques which was absent in HSS and DLS groups. HSS was associated with more frequent damage involving the connective, muscle, salivary gland tissue, but with less soft tissue edema overall (P < 0.001).The relatively low number of dogs included and the artefactual histological alteration following formalin fixation and tissue processing represent potential limitations. The present study revealed that HSS produced less tissue edema and overall proved a valid alternative to DLS and SIS for caudal palatoplasty in BOAS dogs, potentially reducing complications such as postoperative swelling.