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.
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THE BACK PAGE: VETERINARY VIEWPOINTS
AN INTERVIEW WITH DR. JEFFREY J. RUNGE The Human Influence: Revolutionizing Veterinary Surgery
Jeffrey J. Runge, DVM, Diplomate ACVS, has the unique honor of being
our first The Back Page interviewee that has a feature article in the same issue (The Cutting Edge: Introducing Reduced Port Laparoscopic Surgery, page 14). As Dr. Runge and I discussed the article last fall, he extended the invitation for my colleagues and me to visit the Matthew J. Ryan Veterinary Hospital at University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia) and watch surgeries in their new, cutting-edge surgical suite. We finally coordinated schedules and were able visit in December. What
followed was one of the most enjoyable days of my life! Becoming part of the comings and goings of a busy surgical preparation and operating area (and also touring the critical care ward) was an opportunity that gave me a window into the inner workings and demanding days of a high-volume veterinary hospital. Dr. Runge's specialty is minimally invasive surgery, specifically surgery
that uses state-of-the-art techniques, such as the reduced port platform. While he describes these surgical developments in detail in his clinical article, this column gives us a chance to learn about how human surgical techniques were adapted to veterinary patients as well as why Penn's new surgical suite is one of a kind.—Kelly Soldavin, Editorial Director
surgery techniques, including reduced port laparoscopy, to veterinary patients. How did you become interested in this area of surgical medicine? During my residency I recognized the potential benefits of the techniques and some of my mentors recommended that I expand my education outside the walls of our institution— the small animal veterinary hospital at Penn. Fortunately, the University of Pennsylvania has an outstanding medical system, and after making special arrangements, I was given the opportunity to attend rounds, observe surgery, and even use Penn's simulation training facility at the School of Medicine. I began attending human laparoscopic
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surgical conferences, and it was at these venues that the reduced port platform was introduced by the pioneers in this field. From the beginning, these human clinicians were excited about collaborating and it was not long before we were doing cases together. Since that time the collaboration has evolved into clinical research, lecturing, and also training seminars.
80 Today's Veterinary Practice January/February 2012
ou're a boarded specialist in surgery that has gone on to collaborate with medical doctors to adapt minimally invasive
What are the differences between the reduced port platform in humans versus veterinary patients? One of the biggest differences is that the size of our patients in veterinary medicine is typically much smaller compared to human patients. Most of the equipment we use is made for humans, so occasionally the size of instrumentation may not be best suited for our smaller patients. It is very useful for us to utilize the techniques and smaller instruments used in pediatric laparoscopy.
Do you see minimally invasive surgery becoming part of a general practitioner's repertoire of surgical skills? Certainly; even as of now there are many general practitioners utilizing minimally invasive techniques, such as laparoscopy, endoscopy, and arthroscopy. Unfortunately, it is a tremendous financial commitment to purchase the necessary equipment; that alone may be a limiting factor when it comes to minimally invasive surgery becoming mainstream. Another limiting factor is the steep learning curve associated with gaining the knowledge needed to use the equipment and perform the surgical techniques.
The Matthew J. Ryan Veterinary Hospital at University of Pennsylvania recently completed a state-of-the-art surgical suite. Can you tell us about it? The veterinary hospital's new, state-of-the-art Buerger Family Minimally Invasive Surgery Suite allows us to offer a comprehensive array of minimally invasive surgical procedures for both companion and exotic animals. It is outfitted with the same advanced technol- ogy found in the world's top human hospitals.