Peri-operative Morbidity Associated with Ovariohysterectomy Performed as Part of a Third-Year Veterinary Surgical-Training Program

Abstract

The present study describes the morbidity associated with ovariohysterectomy (OVH) when performed by third-year veterinary students as part of a surgical-training program. Data recorded from medical records included signalment, concurrent illness(es), surgical procedure(s), anesthesia and surgery time, anesthetic and surgical complications, and semester performed. The students' surgical training before the OVH included 39 lecture and 26 laboratory hours. In the present study, 513 animals (206 dogs and 307 cats) were included, of which 120 (23.4%) animals had concurrent illnesses. Median anesthesia time was 145 minutes (ranging from 65 to 240) for cats and 180 minutes (ranging from 90 to 360) for dogs. Median surgery time was 105 minutes (ranging from 50 to 210) for cats and 140 minutes (ranging from 65 to 265) for dogs. There were two (0.4%) major anesthetic complications, one resulting in death. There were 206 (41.7%) minor anesthetic complications, the most common being hypothermia. There were 17 (3.3%) major surgical complications, the most common being body wall dehiscence (n=15), and 49 (9.5%) minor surgical complications, the most common being seroma formation (n=35). Complications were comparable to previous reports. Specific aspects of the program identified for improvement included placing greater emphasis on securely tying the terminal knot of a simple continuous suture pattern to prevent body wall dehiscence, improved measures to reduce post-operative hypothermia, and implementing stricter health screening of animals before enrollment into the program. Faculty program coordinators are encouraged to conduct similar studies so that best practices can be shared and outcomes can be compared as we work toward determining the ideal methods of training students to instill core surgical competencies.