Surgical Assisting Amanda Laffoon Tarleton State University

What is a surgical technician? Veterinary surgical technicians are specially trained and certified to assist veterinarians with surgical procedures. (Veterinary Surgical Technician, n.d.). This training is usually part of a curriculum in veterinary technician program. Veterinary technicians can earn a veterinary technician specialty certification in surgical assisting through the Academy of Veterinary Surgical Technicians. Surgical technicians should only be assisting the veterinarian during surgery as they are scrubbed in. But, as any other technician in the room they should be knowledgeable about the patient’s status during surgery. They should be able to obtain this information from the anesthetist or circulating technician. (Veterinary Surgical Technician, n.d.)

Cedar Valley College- Canine Ovariohysterectomy My surgical veterinary technician assisting took place at Cedar Valley College during my surgery rotation semester. This has been the only time I have completely assisted fully scrubbed in with the veterinarian. My patient was a canine Labrador Retriever roughly around 3 years old. She was adopted into our program from a local shelter to aid the students in learning nursing skills. The procedure I surgically assisted with was an ovariohysterectomy. This picture is of Dr. Black and myself during the procedure.

Surgical Assisting- Ovariohysterectomy Our surgery team was broken up into four different jobs. We had a receptionist technician, anesthetic technician, circulating technician and a surgical technician. Each technician had a job to ensure the surgery went well. My job as a surgery technician started with gathering all materials that would be used for both myself and the veterinarian. I made sure the surgery suite was all set up, gowns, gloves, scrub in materials, and packs were all set out. When the anesthetist started to anesthetize the patient, that was my que to request the veterinarian and for us to start scrubbing in. Once scrubbed in and in the surgery suite I would request the circulating technician to open the first layer of the surgery pack along with opening the blade and aseptically handing it to me. (Photo Tour, n.d.)

Surgical Assisting: My Duties My job as a surgical technician was important to the veterinarian. I was an extra set of eyes, hands and knowledge. My first duty was to get the surgical pack opened, sorted out and prepare the animal for draping. Once the animal was draped the veterinarian would cut the correct size fenestration they needed to perform the surgery. While this was going on I gathered a mosquito hemostat and gauze in my left hand ready for anything that needed dabbing or hemostasis (Tear & Busch, 2012). This is me dabbing blood from the surgery site. Hemostats can be seen in my hand.

Surgical Assisting: My Duties When the veterinarian was ready, I proceeded to apply the scalpel blade to the handle. I applied the blade using a needle holder to avoid injuring myself. After the blade was applied I handed the scalpel to the veterinarian handle first. In general any instrument I would be handing to the veterinarian will be handle first. Place the instrument in the hand firmly to avoid having the instrument dropped (Tear & Busch, 2012). (Helping Hands, n.d.) (Sharps Handling, n.d.)

Surgical Assisting: My Duties When the surgery had started I was responsible to hand whatever instrument to the veterinarian when asked. This took a lot of time to memorize the different instruments and the slight detail between some of them. Since this was a routine surgery we did not use any retractors or need to keep any tissues moist (Tear & Busch, 2012). (Basic Spay Pack, n.d.)

Surgical Assisting: My Duties When the surgery was finished it was my responsibility to suture the outer layer of the skin closed. Again, like the instruments there are many different types of suture patterns. The veterinarian will approve what suture material he needs. In our case we used a PDS (polydixanone) suture material. Before I would begin suturing, I would have to thread the needle. This took a lot of practice to get it through the eye of the needle. When threading the needle it was important to know to thread it starting from the inside of the needle. This reduces the suture material from coming loose from the needle as you’re suturing. The pattern I used to close the outer layer of skin was a cruciate pattern (Tear & Busch, 2012). (Photo, n.d.)

Surgical Assisting: My Duties When the surgery was finished I was responsible for collecting all the instruments, pack and gauze. I would count the gauze and instruments to ensure that they were accounted for and not left behind in the patient. Our packs had a certified amount of 40 gauze. Not only would I count out forty to replace, but I would have it verified by another student. This was documented on the pack. The instruments were cleaned, milked, dried and replaced in the pack to be autoclaved (Tear & Busch, 2012). (Eye Health Journal, n.d.) (Dentist in Worchester, n.d.)

Surgical Assisting: Conclusion Surgical assisting is a major part of a veterinarian technicians job. The job doesn’t consist of watching the veterinarian but assisting him. Anything the veterinarian needs, like material laid out for the scrub in, instrument handling, and hemostasis is important to know and understand. Surgical assisting also consists of collecting all materials used and verifying the are accounted for. Materials need to be cleaned, returned to a clean pack and prepared for the next surgery. (Preparing a Pack, n.d.)

References Basic Spay Pack. (n.d.). Retrieved March 3, 2016, from Dentist in Worcester. (n.d.). Retrieved March 03, 2016, from Eye Health Journal » Care of ophthalmic surgical instruments. (n.d.). Retrieved March 03, 2016, from ophthalmic-surgical- instruments-no-48/ Helping Hands at Surgery. (n.d.). Retrieved March 03, 2016, from Photos. (n.d.). Retrieved March 03, 2016, from Photo Tour of Typical Surgery at the Animal & Bird Medical Center of Palm Harbor. (n.d.). Retrieved March 03, 2016, from ovariohysterectomy-surgery.htmlhttp:// ovariohysterectomy-surgery.html Preparing a Surgery Pack. (n.d.). Retrieved March 03, 2016, from Sharps Handling. (n.d.). Retrieved March 03, 2016, from handling Tear, M., & Busch, S. J. (2012). Small animal surgical nursing: Skills and concepts. St. Louis, MO: Elsevier/Mosby. Veterinary Surgical Technicians. (n.d.). Retrieved March 03, 2016, from