Our Veterinary Services
Surgery
Welcome to the Veterinary Surgery department at ACCESS Specialty Animal Hospital – Palm Beach County. Most likely, you are reading this because your primary veterinarian has referred your pet for a surgical consultation with a board-certified veterinary surgeon who has the training, expertise, and access to advanced technology necessary to perform a wide range of surgical procedures.
When you come for a consultation, your pet will be individually assessed and undergo a thorough examination. Our animal hospital is equipped with the most advanced diagnostic equipment that helps our doctors to pinpoint the problem and develop recommendations. Based on the findings, our surgeon will present you with treatment plans, explain the recommended procedures, their benefits, and potential risks so that you can make an informed decision regarding your pet’s health.
Our board-certified veterinary surgeons offer cutting-edge surgical care for your pets and have years of experience performing complex orthopedic and soft-tissue surgeries.
Orthopedic Surgeries
Orthopedic surgeries correct injuries and diseases of your pet’s bones, ligaments, joints, tendons, and other skeletal structures. Examples of the advanced orthopedic pet surgeries our doctors perform include:
- Bone fracture repair – including minimally invasive fracture repair using fluoroscopy and cannulated screw systems and minimally invasive plate osteosynthesis (MIPO) for placement of bone plates.
- Cranial cruciate ligament repair using minimally invasive techniques with arthroscopy and TPLO – to stabilize the knee.
- Arthroscopy of all joints for minimally invasive treatment of joint disorders.
- Correction of angular limb deformities using various osteotomies and implantation.
- Patellar luxation repair – to treat dislocated kneecap.
- Arthrodesis (joint fusion) and dislocated joint repair.
- Maxillofacial fracture repair
- Musculotendinous ligament repair or replacement.
- Total joint replacement – to fix damaged joint that is beyond repair (usually due to severe osteoarthritis).
- THR – total hip replacement with new titanium cementless hip system.
- Patrial knee replacement.
Soft Tissue Surgeries
Soft-tissue surgeries for pets are any non-joint or bone-related surgical procedures and include cardio-thoracic, vascular surgery, hepatic, gastrointestinal, urogenital, oncological, amputation as well as ear, nose, throat, and skin reconstructive surgeries. These can include a wide range of intricate procedures such as tumor removal, repair of heart defects, ear canal ablation, urinary stones removal, skin grafting or ruptured spleen removal.
Neurosurgery
Veterinary neurosurgeries include a combination of orthopedic and soft issue surgery including spinal fracture repair, brain tumor removal, nerve tumor removal, skull fracture repair, congenital malformation correction (chiari malformation, dermoid sinus), atlanto-axial (A-A) luxation stabilization, and treatment of intervertebral disc disease with dorsal laminectomies, hemilaminectomy and ventral slot.
Interventional Radiology
Our state-of-the-art animal hospital is equipped with advanced imaging tools – fluoroscopy, ultrasound, CT, and MRI. Combined with the expertise of our veterinarians, it allows us to use Interventional Radiology (IR) to diagnose and treat a variety of medical problems without the need for invasive open surgery. IR procedures can be less painful, less risky, and sometimes more efficient than conventional surgeries. They only require small incisions through which needles and catheters are placed under the guidance of imaging tools (e.g., fluoroscopy).
Our surgeons routinely use Interventional Radiology for placement of tracheal stents, ureteral stents, urethral stents, pacemakers, and feeding tubes, as well as for kidney and bladder stones removal. IR is also widely used to perform several vascular procedures – e.g., to dissolve blood clots or to stop blood flow to cancer cells. In addition, some bone fractures and joint displacements can be repaired using Interventional Radiology.
Minimally Invasive Surgeries
Arthroscopy (for the joints), laparoscopy (for the abdomen), and thoracoscopy (for the chest) are the types of minimally invasive surgeries that can be used for certain conditions and offer a great alternative to traditional surgery. They result in less bleeding, less tissue damage, lower complication rates, and shorter recovery time with less pain as a side effect for pets. Some of the minimally invasive procedures our surgeons perform are:
- Lung lobectomy
- Intra-abdominal and intra-thoracic mass removal
- Cholecystectomy (gallbladder removal)
- Adrenalectomy
- Liver, kidney, and gastro-intestinal biopsies
- Pericardial window/pericardiectomy (to remove fluids in the sac around the heart)
- Thoracic duct ligation for treatment of chylothorax
- Gastropexy (to attach stomach preventing it from twisting with a GDV)
- Ovariohysterectomy and Ovariectomy
- Treatment of osteoarthritis, shoulder instability, elbow dysplasia, and biceps tendon injuries, elbow fracture repair, sacro-iliac luxation stabilization.
What sets ACCESS apart…
- Five state-of-the-art operating rooms with the highest level of surgical equipment
- Surgeries performed by highly skilled board-certified veterinary surgeons
- Expertise in complex surgeries (e.g., hip and knee replacement) and minimally invasive procedures
- On-site anesthesiologist to develop individual anesthesia plans and ensure safe anesthesia administration
- State of the art anesthetic monitoring equipment
- Most advanced imaging systems with the Arthrex Nuboom system, neurovascular C-arm, 1.5 T MRI and 64 slice CT scan.
- Two Force Triad vessel sealing devices
- 24×7 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) with three board certified critical care specialist for hospitalized patients recovering from surgeries
- 24×7 post-operative care under the supervision of a critical care doctor to ensure a safe recovery
A brief MRI introduction
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