Melbourne University veterinarian performs Australian surgery first
Press release
11 March 2009
A veterinarian at the University of Melbourne has repaired a life-threatening abnormal blood vessel in a Golden Retriever using a pioneering technique that has never before been used to tackle defects of this kind in Australia.
Dr Ben Landon, based at the University’s Veterinary Hospital in Werribee, closed a portosystemic shunt in the dog’s liver using interventional radiologic catheterisation, a technique that causes far less discomfort than traditional methods.
These shunts consist of one or more abnormal blood vessels that take blood containing toxins from the gut – such as ammonia, bile acids and bacteria – away from the liver to the animal’s main systemic circulation. The unfiltered blood causes the animal to become sick – seizures, vomiting, poor growth – because the toxins are carried to the heart, brain and kidneys rather than being removed by the liver.
Traditionally, veterinary surgeons have been required to open the abdomen, locate the shunt and place a device around the blood vessel to close it gradually. Animals must be given strong anaesthetics prior to surgery and require lengthy, often painful, recovery periods. The surgery can be associated with many complications including a relatively higher mortality rate.
The new technique, which involves the insertion of a catheter down the animal’s jugular vein, through the heart and into the shunt, is minimally invasive.
Dr Landon first witnessed the operation being carried out on animals while at Ohio State University, in the USA, in 2006.
“Opening up the abdomen to get to the liver is major surgery for a dog,” he said. “There is a risk of a haemorrhage and damage to other parts of the body. With this technique we do a CT examination of the abdomen first to identify where the shunt is in two dimensions so we have reference points with respect to the vertebrae when we carry out the operation.
“The dogs recover a lot quicker and we don’t have to give them strong painkilling drugs beforehand. It’s a fairly new procedure that’s only been carried out for the past couple of years in the US.
“The operation that we performed recently with the Golden Retriever went well, and the dog is reported to be putting on weight and growing.”
This operation is now available at the University of Melbourne’s Veterinary Clinic and Hospital in Werribee for dog owners or veterinarians with animals suffering from this condition.
For further information please contact the Marketing and Communications Coordinator, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Melbourne, Tel: 9035 4103 or email: vet-communications@unimelb.edu.au