Contents of Today's Veterinary Practice - JAN-FEB 2012

Today's Veterinary Practice provides comprehensive information to keep every small animal practitioner up to date on companion animal medicine and surgery as well as practice building and management.

Page 67 of 83

| TODAY'S TECHNICIAN
A
B
Figure 7. (A) Cervical area bite wounds from a dog that required two passive (Penrose) drains to be surgically placed to allow serous and purulent material drainage and help prevent seroma and abscess formation. (B) The Penrose drains are placed with the openings ventral to allow passive draining.
UÊ nÊÌhiÊviÀÃÌÊÃiÌÕ«, a 10- or 20-mL luer-lok syringe
is used to generate negative pressure. » The syringe is altered by boring a hole through the barrel to allow an 18-gauge needle to pass through the barrel to act as a stopper.
placing cuts in the tubing to create multiple fen- estrations. The sterile line is surgically placed in the body.
Environment Providing a clean, comfortable environment and mini- mizing stress are important for every patient; those requiring wound care are no exception. In fact, because patients with wounds have a high risk of acquiring infection, the importance of cleanliness cannot be
» The modified syringe is placed on the female end of the extension line; then the syringe is aspirated until it creates constant suction.
PAIN MANAGEMENT
GUIDELINES In 2007, the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) and American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP) released the AAHA/AAFP Pain Management Guidelines for Dogs & Cats. This article, published in the Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association (43:235-248, 2007), not only provides extensive information on the topic, but also includes tables that cover topics, such as frequently overlooked causes of pain and signs of pain, and a pain management algorithm. Read the article at aahanet. org/publicdocuments/pain managementguidelines.pdf.
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UÊ/hiÊ ÃiVon`Ê ÃiÌÕ« involves placing an 18- or 20-gauge needle on the male end of the extension line; then inserting the needle into a vacu- tainer tube to provide constant suction. When the vacutainer tube fills it is simply removed and a new one inserted. To read about the specialized
» When the syringe is filled with fluid, it is emptied, the fluid quantified, and the syringe reset.
newest,
innovation in wound care, negative-pressure wound therapy (also known as vacuum- assisted
closure or
VAC), see 6>VÕÕmÃÊinÊ 6iÌiÀin>ÀÞÊ
i`iVini.
NURSING CARE FOR WOUNDS Good nursing care ex- tends beyond the basics of patient monitoring and administering pre- scribed treatments.
Today's Veterinary Practice January/February 2012
overstated. UÊClean, dry bedding should be provided and the patient should be kept free of urine, fecal material, and other contaminants that promote the prolif- eration of bacteria.
UÊThe veterinary technician's ability to assess patient comfort is an important skill (see *>inÊ
>n>}i-
minÌÊ Õi`iliniÃ). Anxious and/or painful animals may be especially restless. Their increased activity may result in disruption of bandages and drain systems, causing additional trauma and delayed recovery.
Bandage & Drain Care Bandage Care Bandages need to be frequently monitored to iden- tify abnormal swelling of limbs or areas surround- ing the bandage. Swelling proximally or distally to the bandage can indicate improper distribution of the bandage material, resulting in tissue damage. Inap- propriately placed modified Robert Jones bandages are very likely to cause swelling of the toes, indicating an emergency and immediate notification of the clinician.
Drain Care When monitoring patients with drains the techni- cian should be evaluating the volume and character or the fluid being produced (ie, serous, serosangui- nous, purulent) and paying close attention to abrupt changes, such as significant increase in fluid volume or difference in fluid type (ie, serous to hemorrhagic).
UÊCare should be taken when providing water to keep the patient from stepping into or spilling water and soaking its bandage.