Positioning for bitch spay

Re: Positioning for bitch spay

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 13:41:43 GMT

I tried tilting the table to 45 degrees, but all my instruments fell on the floor.

Re: Positioning for bitch spay

Colin Cameron — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 13:32:40 GMT

[quote user="Malcolm Ness"]Size isn't everything[/quote]

Exactly!!!! This was actually my point![quote user="Malcolm Ness"]

Surgical incisions heal from the sides, not the ends.

[/quote]I am well aware of that and have been advising so for over 30 years! But there's still no need to do any more damage than necessary.

Re: Positioning for bitch spay

Vikki Halliday LLB — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 13:26:38 GMT

[quote user="Malcolm Ness"]

[quote user="Colin Cameron"]How big[/quote]

Size isn't everything!

[/quote]

Re: Positioning for bitch spay

Malcolm Ness — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 13:25:04 GMT

[quote user="Colin Cameron"]How big[/quote]

Size isn't everything!

Surgical incisions heal from the sides, not the ends.

Re: Positioning for bitch spay

Vikki Halliday LLB — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 13:24:27 GMT

3-6 cm depending on breed, sometimes more if very fat or in season, but the boss seems to manage through an incision 1-2cm shorter than mine most of the time!

Re: Positioning for bitch spay

Colin Cameron — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 12:45:45 GMT

[quote user="Vikki Halliday"]However I have to say he manages to spey them through a much smaller incision [/quote]

How big an incision are you making? I am usually able to spey most through one of 3 -6 cm, except sometimes fat ones or long dogs like setters. I also use the simple flat dorsal rucumbency position and generally have no problems.

Re: Positioning for bitch spay

Ian Ross — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 12:23:27 GMT

[quote user="Matthew Scotter"]How does lifting the caudal end make the overies easier to reach? Would it not be easier if the ovaries moved caudally rather than cranially?[/quote]

I guess that it decreases the tension in the skin? It did seem to work though!!

Re: Positioning for bitch spay

Vikki Halliday LLB — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 12:12:21 GMT

My current boss, (before I go off and open my own surgery in 6 weeks, yay!), he does tilt the table cranially, does all his bitch speys at an angle of 45 degrees almost, and rarely has a problem that I am aware. I have tried it, but find the operating angle awkward, so tend to stick to doing them the way I always have.

However I have to say he manages to spey them through a much smaller incision this way as the ovaries definately exteriorise more easily, opssibly as you have no abdominal contents lying on the uterine ligament, and there is less pressure on the ovarian ligament. We have no issues with respiratory function unless the animal is particularly obese.

Re: Positioning for bitch spay

ms1083 — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 10:17:46 GMT

How does lifting the caudal end make the overies easier to reach? Would it not be easier if the ovaries moved caudally rather than cranially?

Re: Positioning for bitch spay

Clive Ansell — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 19:10:41 GMT

[quote user="Martin Atkinson"]

Never tried it, never had a problem with straightforward missionary position.

[/quote]

Works for me too, but always keen and willing to try a new position.

Re: Positioning for bitch spay

Martin Atkinson — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 18:35:02 GMT

Never tried it, never had a problem with straightforward missionary position.

Re: Positioning for bitch spay

Ian Ross — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 17:46:15 GMT

I recently worked in a practice that did a lot of Greyhound work, and found that the only way to spay these was to place a sandbag or similar under the base of the tail to lift the caudal extremities upwards, and made exposure of the ovary easier.

This way we didn't get significant pressure on the diaphragm, and it did make life a lot easier!

When I saw practice, the vet did cat spays using a inverted V shaped frame, and the back legs were tied to the top of this, and the midline surgery was easier as the abdominal contents dropped away cranially. Never seen this done anywhere else, but I think it may be an Australian thing?

Re: Positioning for bitch spay

Virginia Campbell — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 17:29:48 GMT

I have never tried it; would like to as I can see how it would make things easier, but I worry to much about pressure on the diaphragm and also don't know if it would increase the risk of reflux oesophagitis simply due to gravity not helping the cause if you were unlucky enough to have one with a lax oesophageal sphincter. I tilt bitch Caesars the other way to take some of the weight of a belly full of pups off the lungs.

Re: Positioning for bitch spay

Hannah Wynne Richards — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 17:06:38 GMT

Never tried it-my nurse would kill me !!!!!!!!!!

Wynne

Re: Positioning for bitch spay

Michael Woodhouse — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 16:29:59 GMT

yes - but breathing is harder!

I saw practice with a German vet and he had the table at roughly 45° head down, with the dogs back legs tied onto the table. It made the operation a breeze and all the ones I saw him do woke up.