Surgery

At The Causeway Veterinary Clinic we offer exemplary surgical facilities for a vast range of surgical procedures ranging from routine desexings to advanced soft tissue and orthopaedic surgeries.

Our surgical theatre is fully equipped with the latest in anaesthetic monitoring and surgical instruments, ensuring great professional care of your pet during their surgical procedure.

General Anaesthesia: Almost all surgical procedures undertaken at The Causeway Veterinary Clinic are done so under general anaesthesia. This ensures that the procedure is carried out safely, in the shortest possible time and with the least discomfort to your pet.

At The Causeway Veterinary Clinic we tailor each anaesthetic to the individual pet choosing the best anaesthetic option to suit their particular needs.

1. Pre-anaesthetic sedation / pain relief

At the time of admission all patients are given a mild sedative which also includes Opioid pain relief to help calm and provide pre-emptive pain control.

2. Induction

Patients are then given an intravenous anaesthetic induction agent which quickly sends them to sleep, allowing intubation. There are several different induction anaesthetic agents available. This allows us to tailor the best anaesthetic for the individual needs of each patient while maximising anaesthetic safety at all times.

3. Intubation & Maintenance of General Anaesthesia

During intubation an endotracheal tube is placed and the patient is connected to a gaseous anaesthetic machine. This enables patients to be maintained at a surgical plane of anaesthesia where they are asleep, breathing on their own and unable to feel any pain.

A gaseous anaesthetic is the safest means of maintaining an adequate plane of surgical anaesthesia. At The Causeway Veterinary Clinic we use isoflurane which is one of the safest anaesthetic gasses available (commonly used in human hospitals). The benefit of isoflurane is that it is quickly eliminated from the body by simply breathing it out. This ensures a smooth and rapid recovery after the surgical procedure, and therefore helps reduce the risks during anaesthesia.

4. Monitoring

During every procedure, with the aid of modern anaesthetic monitoring equipment, a dedicated theatre team is on hand to monitor your pet’s anaesthetic.

Through close monitoring we are able to quickly make adjustments to ensure all parameters remain stable and that anaesthetic risks are minimised at all times.

5. Anaesthetic Recovery

All patients are continually monitored during the recovery phase of their anaesthetic and kept in clinic until they are considered to have sufficiently recovered from their anaesthetic.

Surgical Facilities: All Sterile surgical procedures are carried out in a dedicated sterile operating theatre. Only clean surgical procedures are carried out in this area. All patients are anaesthetised and surgically prepared in a separate preparation area. The surgical site is clipped and sterilised before being transferred into the operating theatre for surgery.

All surgical instruments and materials are steam sterilised in our on-site autoclave machine. This reduces the risk of contamination, infection and subsequent complications post surgery.

Our purpose built kennel room has been designed for patient comfort and safety, with its own separate heating and cooling system this area is ideal for maintaining your pet’s best body temperature for anaesthetic recovery post surgery

Patient Discharge: When it comes time to pick up your pet after his/her surgery one of our team will complete a patient discharge with you. This gives us the opportunity to discuss any aftercare instructions and talk about any medications that may be being sent home with the patient. This is also the ideal time for you to ask questions and voice any concerns or worries that you may have concerning your pets recovery. Post operative appointments are usually booked at this time. At the Causeway Veterinary Clinic we pride ourselves on providing the highest standard of aftercare available to ensure your pet makes a full and speedy recovery. 

Surgical Referral: At The Causeway Veterinary Clinic we are committed to providing the highest standard of quality pet care and for this reason in some cases it may be felt that the best surgical outcome for your pet would be achieved with specialist surgical intervention. In these cases it may be recommended that we refer your pet to a specialist facility in Melbourne. Unfortunately there are no veterinary surgery specialists in the country. The Causeway Veterinary Clinic has an ongoing relationship with a specialist facility in Melbourne should referral be required.