Veterinary Surgery and Anaesthesiology
Veterinary surgery and anaesthesiology tests asepsis, anaesthetic selection, local and regional blocks, common operations and postoperative care. Practical questions ask for the correct site, plane or drug sequence rather than operative detail.
Core rules
- Asepsis: sterilise instruments, prepare skin, wear sterile gloves; separate dirty from clean procedures. Hand scrubbing and sterile drapes reduce surgical-site infection.
- Anaesthesia: premedication with xylazine or acepromazine, induction with ketamine or thiopentone, maintenance by inhalant or total intravenous anaesthesia. Monitor heart rate, respiration, mucous membrane colour and reflexes.
- Local anaesthesia: lidocaine for infiltration and nerve blocks; add adrenaline cautiously. Cornual block for dehorning; paravertebral block for flank surgery; Peterson's block for the eye.
- Rumenotomy: left paralumbar fossa; standing in adult cattle under local infiltration; secure rumen to abdominal wall to prevent contamination.
- Postoperative: analgesia, antibiotics only when indicated, wound care, watch for infection and dehiscence.
Worked example
A cow needs a rumenotomy for a wire foreign body. Reasoning: choose standing left flank surgery under local infiltration because the rumen is accessible and general anaesthesia risks bloat and regurgitation. Clip and disinfect the left paralumbar fossa, infiltrate lidocaine, incise, exteriorise and pack off the rumen, then close in layers. A right-flank approach would be wrong for the rumen but correct for abomasal displacement.
Traps
Do not use a dirty surgical field for a clean procedure. Do not confuse left and right flank for rumen versus abomasum. Do not ignore anaesthetic monitoring in small animals. Do not give adrenaline-containing local anaesthetic near extremities without thought.