Pitfalls in Veterinary Surgery

Pitfalls in Veterinary Surgery offers a candid examination of real-life mistakes and mishaps encountered while operating on veterinary patients.

• Describes a range of mistakes and mishaps encountered by a veterinary surgeon with 30+ years of experience
• Provides an honest examination of the reality of operating on pets
• Offers the opportunity to learn from an experienced surgeon’s mistakes
• Discusses mistakes in a wide range of situations, ranging from commonplace to unusual
• Presents a realistic view of veterinary surgery, including how to live with mistakes

Notes on Contributors vii

Acknowledgments ix

Preface xi

1 “Can’t You Do Anything Right?”: The Shocking Realization That I Was Not Perfect 1

2 Beastly Bellies 5

3 The Friday Night Special: Or Why Do Patients Become Critical Just Before the Weekend? 15

4 Between a Rock and a Hard Place: When to Refer and What Do You Do When Referral Is Not an Option? 27

5 Courage, Mystery, and Awe: The Intangibles of Being a Veterinary Doctor 39
Julie M. Meadows

6 Placed on Earth to Test Us: The Not‐So‐Humble Spay 43
Catherine F. Le Bars

7 “Oops!”: Not a Good Word to Hear During Surgery 47

8 Learning the Hard Way: Student, Resident, Teacher 57

9 “But I Don’t Want to Look Stupid …”: How to Let Others Help You 65

10 “It Didn’t Look Like That on Paper!”: When Textbooks Let Us Down 73

11 “It Will Be Interesting to See Whether That Works”: How to Be a Creative Surgeon 83

12 When the Unthinkable Happens: Mishaps, Mis‐steps, and Medical Errors 95

13 Things Went South – Now What? 103

14 “There’s Got to Be a Morning After”: Things Went Wrong – Now Live With It 111

15 One Leg Too Many: Patients Who Lost Limbs 121

16 Reconstruction Rescue: When the Hole Just Keeps Getting Bigger and Bigger 133

17 “Why Is Sam Straining?”: Iatrogenic Strictures and Stray Oddities 143

18 “An Alien in My Waiting Room”: Everyday Occurences of the Unexpected and Unbelievable 155

19 Rewind: What Would I Do Differently If I Had the Chance? 167

Index 171

�[The book] is generally well written and will be a great adjunct for general practitioners and veterinary students, interns, and residents who have an interest in small animal surgery. For experienced veterinary surgeons, it is a heartwarming and humbling read of relatable experiences.� JAVMA, January 2018

The Editor
Geraldine B. Hunt, BVSc, PhD, FACVSc, is Emeritus Professor at the University of California at Davis, California, USA.

Pitfalls in Veterinary Surgery

Pitfalls in Veterinary Surgery offers a candid examination of real-life mistakes and mishaps encountered while operating on veterinary patients. Written by a surgeon with over thirty years of experience, the book is a highly readable and entertaining, yet informative, account of common errors that can occur in the veterinary operating room. Allowing readers to learn from the author's mistakes, the book offers a thoughtful reflection on how to avoid these common errors.

Each chapter tackles a different category of mistakes, discussing real-life examples of lessons learned in the veterinary practice. Veterinary surgeons, practitioners, residents, interns, and students alike will enjoy Pitfalls in Veterinary Surgery, and will benefit from the author's years of experience in veterinary surgery.

Key features

• Describes a range of mistakes and mishaps encountered by a veterinary surgeon with 30+ years of experience
• Provides an honest examination of the reality of operating on pets
• Offers the opportunity to learn from an experienced surgeon's mistakes
• Discusses mistakes in a wide range of situations, ranging from commonplace to unusual
• Presents a realistic view of veterinary surgery, including how to live with mistakes