Plastic Surgery For Animals

Plastic Surgery For Animals
Plastic Surgery For Animals

Video: Plastic Surgery For Animals

Video: Plastic Surgery For Animals
Video: Plastic surgery for pets 2024, March
Anonim

Plastic surgery has firmly entered the life of a modern person. Someone changes the shape of the nose, someone changes the shape of the eyes, but most often it is necessary to resort to her services as needed, and not at will.

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Unfortunately, animals also need the services of a plastic surgeon, and it cannot be said that it is very rare. The veterinarian surgeon of the clinic tells about the possibilities of plastic surgery for pets"

Biocontrol

"At the FSBI" National Medical Research Center of Oncology named after N. N. Blokhin”of the Russian Ministry of Health Ilya Smirnov.

What is Veterinary Plastic Surgery?

This is reconstructive surgery. It is very closely related to plastic surgery, since most of the operations are both reconstructive and plastic. True, in contrast to plastic surgery in humans, in veterinary medicine we first of all correct the disturbed functions of organs and tissues, that is, what “stopped working”, and only secondly - what became “ugly”.

What leads to the need for such operations?

First of all, these are congenital anomalies. Cleavage of the hard palate (or cleft lip) not only looks ugly, but also prevents the animal from breathing and eating normally. Secondly, various injuries - extensive wounds, chemical or thermal burns, traumatic amputations. Thirdly, surgical interventions.

After removal of volumetric neoplasms, reconstructive plastic is applied. The resulting defects are closed in several different ways. The first is the use of local tissues. This technique is the simplest, it consists in tightening the edges of the wound and suturing them. The second is the use of pedicle flaps. It allows you to close defects not only in adjacent tissues, but also in distant areas. In this case, the donor area, from where the flap will be taken, is sutured in the first way. The third method is free plastic, that is, skin grafting.

Where does the skin for grafting come from?

The skin is taken from those areas where it is most elastic and where it can be taken enough to close the defect. Most often, the "donor sites" are the lateral surface of the chest or abdominal wall. They also take it from the chest, since the place there is quite wide and mobile.

How are grafts transplanted and sutured?

In the third method, only flaps of the epidermis and dermis are usually taken without subcutaneous fatty tissue, so that it does not impede healing. Sometimes the taken flap covers an area larger than it. This is exactly what the method of free skin plastics is good for. The only limitation is that there must be a sufficient amount of underlying soft tissues in the place where the skin is transplanted. Otherwise, the transplanted flap will not have enough nutrition, because it does not have its own blood supply.

What types of plastics are used in your clinic?

Everything. Most often, we have to eliminate defects after removing bulk neoplasms. For example, with mastectomy, the first method is used, that is, we simply suture the wound using nearby tissues. The second method is used to close defects after removal of tumors in the limb area. The third method is used in cases where it is not possible to reach the wound with the flap. Moreover, after oncological operations, this method is conceived inapplicable, since in this case we have to remove a lot of adjacent tissues and the free flap simply has nothing to eat from. Therefore, in oncological diagnoses, the first two methods are usually used. Free plastic is best suited for burns or extensive defects after necrosis.

Are there any features of reconstructive plastic surgery?

The most important thing is to plan everything in advance. It is necessary to take into account the volume that will be removed in order to understand how the wound can be closed. In addition, the lines of force of the skin should be considered. Indeed, in different parts of the body, the load is distributed along certain lines. If you make an incision along this "seam", then the healing will be faster, leaving an invisible scar, but if you cut the line of force across, then the scar will be coarser, and there may be problems with healing due to constant tension.

How long does the healing process take with such operations?

If the first two methods were used, then with an adequately performed operation, the healing period will be approximately two to three weeks. But when transplanting free skin flaps, the process is much longer. This is due to the fact that there is a replacement, in fact, with a mesh graft, which does not have its own nutrition, which means that it takes longer to take root. With this method, healing occurs within one to two months.

If the operation was carried out in the first or second way, then the owner himself can take care of the sutures, this does not require special skills and equipment. The only caveat is that aggressive antiseptics are not used in the care, chlorhexidine is enough. Plus, it is imperative to prescribe antibiotic therapy to exclude bacterial complications.

But if the transplantation of free skin flaps was carried out, then special wound care is required, which is best carried out in the clinic. Specific dressings are used, which create a favorable environment for skin nourishment. At least the first two or three dressings must be performed in the clinic. The dressings are changed approximately every two to three days. But even after that, not every owner decides to take care of such a wound on their own. In addition, for the first two to three weeks, the doctor needs to monitor the healing process, and therefore, see the animal.

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