Small Animal Surgery

What you’ll be able to do

• Describe the problems that may benefit from surgical intervention that are typically encountered in a given organ system, how these diseases or problems present, and what surgical interventions are typically implemented to improve the problem.

• Explain the surgical techniques employed for treatment of disease/problems in a given organ system and the complications that may arise related to surgery.

• Compare both short- and long-term prognoses for diseases or clinical problems in a given organ system with and without surgical treatment to facilitate assessment of the benefits of surgery versus other courses of action such as conservative management.

• Summarize the principles that guide the evaluation of a lame dog or cat.

• Describe the principles of physical examination of a lame dog or cat.

• Take a history of a lame dog or cat and list likely differential diagnoses for the patient.

• Select appropriate diagnostic tests for evaluation of patients with locomotor system disease and interpret abnormal results and their significance.

• Choose appropriate medical or surgical therapy to enable effective management of animals with locomotor system disease.

• Offer appropriate advice on prognosis and complications for clients owning animals with locomotor system disease.

• List the common congenital, developmental and acquired locomotor system diseases of the dog and cat, and describe how these alter locomotor system function.

• Describe the etiology and pathogenesis of common locomotor diseases in the dog and cat and recognize pathological lesions associated with these diseases.

• Describe the alterations that take place in bone, cartilage, tendon and ligament in response to disease.

• Describe the various types of disease that can affect joints and lead to the clinical syndrome of osteoarthritis.

Source: UW Guide