“"This course (Basic Principles of Rodent Surgery) provides an introduction to the basic techniques required for rodent surgery in laboratory animal medicine. Not only can the information provided on laboratory animal medicine be applied to the surgical aspect, there is general information about the regulatory and legislative programs that oversee this area or research."” -Nikki Waltemire (2nd year MLAS student, Drexel University College of Medicine)

“"This course (Basic Principles of Rodent Surgery) is full of relevant and detailed information and provides a well rounded overview of the concepts required for proper rodent surgery procedures and techniques."” Jesse Swanson (College of Medicine Drexel University)

““This course (Basic Principles of Rodent Surgery) was very thorough and very easy to follow. It goes over all the basic knowledge needed to begin performing rodent surgeries. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in lab animal medicine or to sharpen your surgery skills.”



-Sheera Dashkow, CVT, MLAS ‘09” -Sheera Dashkow, CVT, MLAS ‘09

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Rodent Surgery – The proper care of rodent surgical instruments

Posted by: admin | January 05, 2010 | 1 Comments

The
proper care of rodent surgical instruments enables successful surgeries and
saves money. However, this topic commonly receives little attention during
rodent surgical workshops. A surgeon depends on their instruments to perform
specific functions during surgical procedures. Instrument can prolong the
surgical procedure and / or increase the risk of surgical complications. For
example, if the metzenbaum scissors are dull, the surgeon might have to make
several attempts to incise tissue, thereby increasing injury to the tissues.
This also prolongs the surgical and anesthetic time. This can be prevented by
appropriate care of the instruments. First, surgical instruments should be
cleaned immediately after surgery. Even though the majority of the instruments
are made of stainless steel they will still stain. Instrument staining can lead
to rusting, which will require the replacement of instruments, adding
unnecessary costs. Cleaning procedures should include rinsing the instrument, removing
debris and then they should be washed. The washing process should use
neutral pH cleaning solutions. Solutions such as dish soap, Chlorohexidine,
surgical scrub or any solution with high chlorine content breaks down stainless
steel and will lead to spotting and corrosion. This wasing process should be
followed by ultrasonic cleaning.  Ultrasonic cleaning cleans the parts that are
difficult to reach, like the hinges where debris can hide and evade manual
cleaning. Studies have shown that ultrasonic cleaning cleans 16 times better
than manual washing. Instruments should then be rinsed and dried. It is imperative that surgical instruments are
completely dried to prevent rusting. Drying should be performed with a towel.
This prevents spotting and rusting which can occur when instruments are left to
air-dry. The last step involves lubricating
the instruments, especially the instruments with hinges. This lubrication must
be performed with special surgical instrument lubricant.  In conclusion, good care of rodent surgical
instruments, leads to excellent instrument performance, increased instrument
life and avoids unnecessary repair costs, and extends the life of rodent surgical
instruments.

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this just a test comment feb 12, 2011

Posted by: Haytham | February 13, 2011 12:25 PM