King Street Veterinary Hospital’s dedicated surgical theatre allows us to perform a wide range of interventions, from elective procedures to intricate soft tissue and orthopaedic surgeries. While routine surgery can be performed by our attending veterinarians, Dr Nina Lorenz from Northern Rivers Veterinary Specialists performs our more complicated surgeries.
To maintain normal body temperature, our patient warming blankets are keeping your animal nice and warm during the anaesthesia. Our new pulse oximeters closely registers your pet’s oxygen level, ECG, CO2 output, body temperature and blood pressure. All of our surgical patients receive intravenous fluids in order to maintain perfusion and compensate for any blood loss. A qualified nurse is monitoring your pet’s anaesthesia and a chart is recorded for every patient. King Street Veterinary Hospital strives in making all procedures as safe as possible for your pet. Excellent pain management protocols are put in place to ensure a smooth anaesthetic recovery.
Soft tissue surgery
Soft tissue surgery is any surgery not connected with bones or joints.
This surgery takes many different forms, as there are many different soft tissues in the body. The type of surgery also varies with the intention of the procedure. It may be preventative (e.g. desexing surgery), curative (e.g. abscess surgery), diagnostic (e.g. taking biopsy samples to find out exactly what a type of tissue is) or palliative (e.g. reducing the size of a tumour to make an animal more comfortable).
The soft tissue surgical procedures we perform at King Street Veterinary Hospital include:
- desexing (spey & castration)
- Caesarean section
- lumpectomy (lump removal)
- biopsy
- abscess surgery
- eyelid surgery
- external ear surgery
- hernia repair
- surgery of the head and mouth
- abdomen or chest surgery
- bladder surgery
- cancer /tumour surgery
- surgical tumour removal
- Gastric Dilatation Volvulus
- cystotomy
- thyroidectomy
- parathyroidectomy
- liver biopsy
- nephrectomy
- intestinal resection and anastomosis
- brachycephalic airway syndrome
- splenectomy
- urethrostomy
- entropion
- eye enucleation
- repair of aural haematoma
Orthopaedic surgery
Orthopaedic surgery is surgery which deals with bones and other bone-related structures.
Orthopaedic surgery performed at King Street Veterinary Hospital are usually either bone fractures, or joint/ligament injury surgery and may be as a result of a traumatic accident (e.g. a fall, hit by car, foot in pothole when running), but could also include correction of congenital and developmental limb deformities or removal of cancers involving bones.
Bone Fractures
Fracture investigation and repair in animals involves stabilising the patient, diagnosing the extent of the injuries, and fixation of broken bones to allow them to heal. Stabilisation means dealing with any life threatening problems such as damaged internal organs, and shock. Diagnostic radiographs (x-rays) are taken to determine the extent of and repair type for any fractures. A number of repair options are available and are selected depending on the type of fracture, sometimes in combination. They include: splinting, wiring around the bone, screws, plates, pinning and external skeletal fixation (external frame). Our surgical specialist Nina Lorenz can perform these procedures at our clinic.
Ligament/Joint/Tendon injuries
The surgical procedure for other orthopaedic injuries (e.g. cruciate ligament rupture) is similar, with diagnosis being made at a consultation and then confirmed with x-rays and examination under anaesthetic. Repair consists of stabilising the joint if unstable, and removing any torn, or damaged tissue likely to cause future problems. These surgeries are performed by surgical specialist Dr Nina Lorenz
Spinal Surgery
Pets that have spinal injuries or suspected spinal problems are stabilised and x-rayed at King Street Veterinary Hospital. They are then generally referred to Veterinary Specialist Services at Carrara if surgical intervention is necessary. VSS perform imaging such as myelograms, CT scans, or MRI to confirm the locations of spinal problem and extent and type of injury. Specialist surgeons can then perform spinal surgical procedures with essential diagnostic image information to correct the problem appropriately.
