As we continue talking about modern therapies using light, I like to remind folks that there aren’t just medical therapies that can benefit from this. Surgical techniques and their success have greatly improved as surgical lasers have become more easily obtained by veterinarians.
Just like with our therapy lasers, portable, high-power units are used to generate laser energy through a handheld aiming unit. In the case of surgical lasers, the power from the laser is extremely high and focuses into a very narrow beam between 0.25mm and 1.2mm in diameter. On top of the beam size, the power of the laser can also be altered. The combination of these two things allows the surgeon a wide range of options from powerful cutting to subtle plastic surgery of the superficial skin.
Surgical lasers are not all that new. Some of the doctors at our clinic have been using them regularly for over 20 years. They would likely be used more if not for cost of the units and the learning curve associated with proper use. That said, the benefits of using a surgical laser even on basic surgeries are huge: less bleeding, swelling, and pain. To begin with, lasers at their most basic level were meant to replace scalpels and other sharp instruments. Many people hear “laser surgery” and think we are performing surgery without making holes. In some instances, like eye surgery, they are actually correct. Lasers can pass safely through transparent things like the cornea to ablate tissues within the eye without popping the eye. However, the primary purpose of the laser is to cut through tissue.
As I said, the laser cuts without causing bleeding from small vessels. It does this through a combination of cauterizing and “shrinking” (think of shrink wrap with a heat gun…) of the blood vessel tissue. From a surgical standpoint, this speeds up the surgery by preventing loss of visual control of the tissue as it gets covered in blood as scalpel blades would as they pass through. During the post-operative period, this better bleeding control speeds up recovery times and significantly lessens complications from chronic bleeding. The “cleaner” cuts with the laser also decrease inflammation which leads not only to slower healing, but also much more pain for the cats and dogs.
On top of the better surgical outcomes for basic surgeries, the lasers also allow for more specialized surgeries to be performed in ways a scalpel or scissors cannot. For instance, working in the throat and respiratory tract is very difficult and sometimes requires opening the neck. There are also serious concerns from bleeding and blockage of the airways. With lasers, specialized instruments can be used to quickly and safely pass laser light to the surgical sites down flexible cables. The same procedures that could take up to an hour with safe conditions using a blade can be completed in a handful of minutes with the laser.
At our clinic, we use the surgical laser for almost all procedures, including spays and neuters, as we want the best possible outcome for all of our surgical patients. Be sure to ask your veterinarian if this is an option for your pet.