Minimally Invasive Surgery for your lovely pets

Our doctor may have recommended minimally invasive surgery ? also called laparoscopic surgery ? for several conditions. In minimally invasive procedures, your veterinarian makes one or more incisions, each about a half-inch long, to insert a tube. The number of incisions depends on the type of surgery. The tube or tubes let the doctor slip in tiny video cameras and specially designed surgical instruments to perform the procedure.

When you have minimally invasive surgery, your pet is likely to lose less blood and have less postoperative pain, fewer and smaller scars, and a faster recovery than your pet would after open surgery. Depending on your condition, your pet may need only a short hospital stay.

South Coast Veterinary Hospital is among the few that offers Minimal Invasive Surgeries.

Technological advances and years of experience have allowed the South Coast Veterinary Hospital  (SCVH) to emerge as one of the few programs in the veterinary world offering minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery for complex anatomic abdominal and chest surgery. Laparoscopic surgeries are performed through incisions of 5-10mm by introducing lights, cameras and surgical instruments through narrow tubes inserted into the abdomen. Elimination of large incisions reduces risk and limits surgical trauma to the body, allowing patients to recover faster. Laparoscopic resections of a abdominal tumor, in which diseased tissue is removed while the rest of the normal tissue remains intact, are now commonly performed at the South Coast Veterinary Hospital and increasing at other veterinary hospital for routine spay, etc. However, the SCVH offers has one of the few veterinary hospitals that offer laparoscopic surgery for more extensive anatomic resections, in which potentially compromised tissue adjacent to tumors is removed in addition to the diseased tissue.

New technology

Advances in technologies and techniques for using surgical instruments have combined to make laparoscopic abdominal and chest surgeries possible in the hands of the most trained surgeon, such as Dr. Song at South Coast Veterinary Hospital. These technologies include the following:

1. Endo-GIA surgical staplers are inserted through the narrow opening of an endoscope to seal off arteries and veins while cutting into the tumor, for example, to remove diseased tissue. In addition to reducing complications, the staplers decrease operative time.

2. The PowerBlade is a metal probe that cauterizes by using heat from high-frequency current. The system avoids the hazards of excessive bleeding during traditional surgeries.

3. Laparascopic procedures enable a surgeon to see the super-magnified abnormal tissue changes that can be missed during conventional surgeries. Magnified images also help the surgeon find the "clean" margin from abnormal tissue. This is particularly important during cancer/tumor surgeries. A laparascopic procedure for your pet can save your pet's life by avoiding second or "follow-up" surgeries in order to get a clean margin of the cancer/tumor.

South Coast Veterinary Hospital offers comprehensive care for our companion animals, providing a powerful combination of clinical treatment and Asian traditional medicine (herb and acupuncture).

Currently, the best treatment for most cancers in veterinary side is surgical resection, depending on the location of the tumors and the underlying disease. SCVH's surgery service includes a highly experienced surgeon, anesthesia machine, and vet technicians, who has experience in the performance and management of surgical operations and peri-operative care. In addition to surgical treatment, patients at the South Coast Veterinary Hospital have access to all of the latest diagnostic and therapeutic options used in the treatment of your pet for the best possible outcome, including cryosurgery (freezing surgery) for a local regional therapy and the latest imaging equipment (digital x-ray and ultrasound). All these procedures can be done at the SCVH rather than driving a long distance.

Patient referral

Veterinarians may refer patients to the South Coast Veterinary Hospital by calling (949) 249-7777.