Veterinary Surgery
Norwalk Animal Hospital offers the experience to use advanced surgical techniques and technology for dogs and cats. Our surgical services and facilities include:
- LASER Surgery. Norwalk Animal Hospital is one of the most experienced veterinary hospitals in the county capable of performing LASER surgery. LASER technology reduces surgical pain and inflammation thus improving and shorting recovery to your pet. Click here to read more about LASER surgery.
- Cryosurgery. Cryosurgery is an alternative method of surgery performed by freezing tissue rather than using a traditional scalpel blade. This is done by rapidly applying extreme cold produced by liquid nitrogen to the abnormal tissue. Click here to read more about cryosurgery.
- Radiosurgery. Radiosurgery is a method of cutting and coagulating (cauterizing) tissue using high frequency radio waves. Radiosurgery reduces the bleeding involved in surgical procedures, such as tissue removal. Small blood vessels and lymphatic vessels are sealed by the radio waves. By sealing the small blood and lymphatic vessels we have a clearer field in which to operate, thereby increasing the level of surgical precision. Click here to read more about radiosurgery.
Our surgical facilities include:
- Fully equipped surgical suite capable of performing every type of soft tissue and orthopedic surgery
- A fully trained veterinary and technical nursing staff to ensure the safest, most efficient procedures for your pet
- Anesthetic monitoring equipment such as ECG and oxygen saturation monitors
- Heated surgery tables and Baer hugger technology body temperature is maintained for greater comfort and faster recovery for your pet
- Monitored sterilization techniques to verify sterilization is complete
- Full pre-anesthetic blood testing and intensive after-surgery care
We perform all types of general and orthopedic surgery, including:
- Eye, Ear and Oral surgery
- Soft tissue/general surgery
- Orthopedic surgery
- Spay and Neuter procedures
- Declaw (using only LASER surgery)
- Emergency surgery (laceration repair, wound repair, foreign object removal, emergency orthopedic surgery such as fracture repair)
Once the procedure is completed, a member of our nursing staff will call you with a status report. When you pick up your pet, the doctor or nurse will review the procedure with you and send you home with easy to understand aftercare instructions. We will call you within a few days to check on your pet and answer any additional questions.
Patient Monitoring
Safety. We provide the same level of close patient monitoring that you would receive if you were having surgery yourself. We monitor all of your pet’s vital signs with state-of-the-art equipment, as well as manual techniques. Pets are monitored during surgery using pulse oximetry, respiratory monitoring, EKG, temperature monitoring and are given oxygen.
Pain Management
Your pet’s comfort is our top priority. At Norwalk Animal Hospital, we believe in maximizing the comfort of your pet before, during and after his/her procedure. Proper pain management also improves your pet’s recovery and speeds the healing process. We administer pain medication before beginning the procedure, during the procedure and post-operatively as needed.
We use a multi-modal approach to pain management. A multi-modal approach refers to the layered administration of small amounts of different drugs to minimize any pain that your pet might feel during or after the procedure. When we administer lower doses of each individual drug, your pet will experience fewer adverse side effects, more complete pain relief and faster post-operative recovery.
By using a multi-modal approach, we use quantitatively far less of any one drug, which is the safest pain management technique possible. By using this technique we are able to safely minimize the pain your pet might feel at all of the pain gateways: locally (tissue level), at the spinal cord and in the brain.
Laser Surgery
There are numerous advantages to LASER surgery:
- LESS PAIN – LASER energy seals nerve endings as it moves through tissue resulting in your pet feeling less pain post-operatively.
- LESS BLEEDING – The LASER seals small blood vessels (capillary’s) during surgery which allows the doctor to perform surgeries with better visualization resulting in extraordinary precision.
- LESS SWELLING – LASER energy does not crush, tear or bruise because only a narrow beam of intense light contacts the tissue. The LASER also seals small lymphatic vessels to further reduce post-operative swelling.
Cryosurgery
Cryosurgery is an alternative method of surgery performed by freezing tissue rather than using a traditional scalpel blade. This is done by rapidly applying extreme cold produced by liquid nitrogen to abnormal tissues. It works by destroying the cell wall by freezing (expanding) the water contained within the cell wall as well as blood vessels that supply the nutrients to the cells.
This freezing immediately destroys the abnormal cells. This method can be used on any skin growths such as warts, cysts, tumors, oral cancers and more.
NO GENERAL ANESTHESIA is required when using this modality. It is minimally invasive and is ideal for those patients that may be at greater risk for traditional methods of surgery requiring anesthesia. Cryosurgery can usually be performed during an office visit and is often an economical alternative for the owner.
Radiosurgery
Radiosurgery has many advantages for your pet:
- Less bleeding – Less bleeding is always more desirable. The cauterizing capabilities of our unit allow us to do more in vascular areas such as the nose, mouth and tumors that amass a large blood supply.
- Less swelling – during and after surgery due to cauterizing the lymphatic vessels.
- Better surgical precision – so that unhealthy tissue can be removed while minimizing adverse affects (overheating) to healthy surrounding tissue.
- Reduced risk of infection – the radio waves sterilize as they cut or remove tissue killing the bacteria that cause infection.
- Pain Management – Post operative pain is minimized with Radiosurgery, just as with LASER surgery, when compared with traditional scalpel surgery.
- As a result of the above benefits, your pet’s quick return to their normal activities is encouraged.
