Vet Cetera magazine 2015

But things are looking up for Rosie. Wilmoth
brought Rosie to Oklahoma State University’s
Veterinary Medical Hospital in February
2015 to see if the dog was a good candidate for
percutaneous laser disc ablation surgery. The
surgery, a prophylactic procedure developed by
Dr. Kenneth Bartels, emeritus professor, lessens
the risk of intervertebral disk rupture in dogs.
It is performed only on dogs that are currently
free of back pain; some have had prior episodes
of pain or paralysis while others are at risk for
disk rupture. Without the procedure, up to 40
percent of dogs face more back pain or paralysis.
“The disc is like a jelly donut with a tough
outer layer and jelly-like material on the inside,”
explains Mark Rochat, DVM, MS, Diplomate of
the American College of Veterinary Surgeons
and former small animal surgery section chief
at OSU’s Veterinary Medical Hospital. “We
insert a needle into each disc that needs treatment,
then insert a laser fiber through the needle.
Laser energy is delivered through the fiber
to ‘burn away’ the inside (jelly) material so that
it cannot rupture through the outer layer, compress
the spinal cord and cause pain or paralysis.
It’s a minimally invasive procedure with
no surgical opening, just the tiny holes made
by the needles.”
Rosie was a good candidate for the laser surgery,
and so she was treated. She spent one night
in the hospital and was crate-contained while
recovering at home for a few weeks.
“I think it will definitely help her quality of
life,” adds Wilmoth. “Right now, we don’t let her
sprint across the yard. We don’t let her jump up
on furniture. We have ramps in the house and
out to the yard even though it is just two steps
off the deck. She needs to be a normal dog; I’m
hoping surgery will do that.”
“The length of surgery varies from dog to
dog,” Rochat says. “The needle placement is
the unknown factor; sometimes it takes longer
than other times to place them. Firing the
laser is 40 seconds for each needle with time in
between to double check the placement. Rosie
had eight needles.”
The laser
goes into
one of
the eight
needles.
Dr. Mark Rochat places needles in Rosie during
her percutaneous laser disc ablation surgery.
Rosie’s procedure took about an hour. Even
though Wilmoth’s friends have had the procedure
done on their dogs with great success, she
was still anxious about Rosie’s operation.
“It was elective surgery, so it was very difficult
for us to do this. Even though it was elective,
I feel like it was not elective in the sense if
I wanted Rosie to have a normal dog life. She
wants to be able to play with other dogs. She has
two brothers, and they don’t play a whole lot. If
you have ever seen a Dachshund with back pain,
their nose is to the ground and their back is
hunched, and you know it’s extremely painful.”
Wilmoth says veterinarians told her Rosie
did great.
“The doctors and staff are wonderful,” she says.
“They explained the risks, the process of what
they were going to do and they communicated
with me. I was in contact with the veterinary
student on the case a lot, which was wonderful.
They called me after surgery and said Rosie
came out of anesthesia, walked around and
went to the bathroom. … It was a success and
I’m glad we did it.”
DERINDA BLAKENEY, APR
For more information on laser disc
surgery, contact Oklahoma State
University’s Veterinary Medical
Hospital at 405-744-7000, ext. 1.
2015 Oklahoma State University 15