Use of surgical lasers in small animal dermatology

In Pract. April 2023;45(3):144-154. 16 Refs

Jason Pieper¹

¹ Iowa State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, 1800 Christensen Dr, Ames, IA 50011, USA.

Author Abstract

Background: Use of lasers in veterinary medicine has significantly increased over the past decade. What was once a piece of equipment, almost exclusively used by veterinary specialists, has now become a common piece of equipment in general veterinary practices. It is imperative to know the appropriate situations and diseases for which lasers can be used.

Aim of the article: This article covers the basics of lasers, including discussion of both diode and CO₂ lasers. It also discusses several skin diseases and/or conditions in which lasers are commonly used.

Article Tools:

Email to me

Archives Highlights:

Feline blood donation: Description and adverse reactions from 29 201 donation events between 2019 and 2023.
Adverse reactions were uncommon (0.29%, 2.88/1000 donor events) and most commonly were cardiorespiratory (0.08%, 0.75/1000 donor events) or behavioral (0.06%, 0.62/1000 donor events). The only risk factor significantly associated with adverse reactions was conscious donation, with conscious donors 4.4 times more likely to have an adverse reaction.

Companion animal veterinary personnel have occupational risk for tularemia and One Health role for tularemia prevention in Kansas.
Forty-three percent (47 of 109) of veterinarians reported diagnosing tularemia in cats and 13% (14 of 109) in dogs. Seven percent (8 of 109) of veterinarians reported having had tularemia. When performing procedures with a high risk of exposure, such as lancing abscesses in tularemia suspects, glove use was 100% but additional personal protective equipment was inconsistent, including eye protection (70%) and surgical face mask (59%).

Aseptic protocol breaches are common among veterinary students scrubbing, gowning, and gloving into surgery.
At least 1 aseptic protocol breach (APB) was noted in 46.3% of the 96 procedures observed. The most common mistakes noted were contact of the sterile towel onto nonsterile surfaces (17.7%), contact of the gown with nonsterile surfaces (17.7%), touching sterile objects with bare hands (12.5%), and improper scrubbing technique (17.4%).

Feline acute patient physiologic and laboratory evaluation scores and other prognostic factors in cats with first-time diabetic ketoacidosis.
Median BG was significantly higher in non-survivors (431 mg/dL) compared with survivors (343 mg/dL) and BG predicted mortality. For every 1 mg/dL increase in BG, the odds of death increased by 1.004.

Development of a dog owner caregiving style scale (Lincoln Owner Caregiving Questionnaire, LOCQ) and its relationship with behaviour problems in dogs
Compared to owners of dogs without behaviour problems, owners with high scores for the Disorganised caregiving style predicted dogs with separation related problems or with more than one behaviour problem, owners with high Avoidant caregiving style scores predicted dogs with Fear, and owners with high scores for both Disorganised and Avoidant caregiving styles predicted dogs with Aggressivity problems.