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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Integrated Surgery We are very fortunate to have an integrated operating room—it's a tremendous resource. Most people have never heard of integrated operating rooms; the word integration actually refers to functionally connecting the operating room to its environment. Simply stated, it brings all the necessary information directly to the tips of the surgeon's fingers: t 1BUJFOU JOGPSNBUJPO t "VEJP BOE WJEFP SFDPSEJOH t 4VSHJDBM BOE SPPN MJHIUT t $BNFSB JNBHFT t 3BEJPHSBQIZ BOE VMUSBTPOPHSBQIZ t .BHOFUJD SFTPOBODF JNBHJOH .3* BOE DPNQVUFE UPNPHSBQIZ $5 JNBHFT
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dation for our integration; this platform lessens the com- plexity of a hospital's most complicated environment—the surgery suite. Specifically, the integration platform gives our surgeons and other members of the surgical team control of the laparoscopic scopes, overhead video cameras, flat screen monitors, and all medical imaging associated with the patient streamed to the surgery team in real time.
Cutting Edge Communication One of the most amazing features about this suite is that its video conferencing capability allows surgical images to be sent anywhere, allowing true telemedi- cine for: t 3FBM UJNF DPMMBCPSBUJPO XJUI SFGFSSJOH WFUFSJOBS- ians
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How does this cutting edge design influence the current standard of care for surgery? I think that anytime you have the most advanced, up-to-date equipment available, it forces you to push past your previous comfort limit. If we apply this to medicine, the same is true—it pushes the standard of medical care higher. This suite enables our veterinary clinicians to utilize
some of the most advanced technology available for surgical care. I feel very fortunate to have this type of resource available for my patients.
When should a general practitioner refer a patient for specialized surgical care? That is a difficult question to answer because cases are referred for many different reasons. Many of the cases referred to us for minimally invasive surgery take place because we do these types of procedures on a fairly regular basis and have the infrastructure to do them successfully, including the: t &RVJQNFOU; OFDFTTBSZ UP EP UIF DBTFT t &YQFSJFODF; OFFEFE UP QFSGPSN UIF TVSHFSZ EVF to handling these types of cases regularly
t "CJMJUZ UP FOTVSF B TBGF BOE DPOUSPMMFE QSPDFEVSF thanks to our superb anesthesiologists
t 'BDJMJUJFT UP QSPWJEF DBSF GPS DSJUJDBMMZ JMM QBUJFOUT JO our world-renown intensive care unit.
This type of infrastructure provides comfort to
Procedures & Equipment The suite allows us to perform any minimally invasive modal- ity, including: t "SUISPTDPQZ t -BQBSPTDPQZ t 5IPSBDPTDPQZ t *OUFSWFOUJPOBM SBEJPMPHZ t .JOJNBMMZ JOWBTJWF GSBDUVSF SFQBJS .*10 The suite is equipped with the latest telescopes and
instruments for performing a broad array of minimally inva- sive surgical procedures on animals of various sizes. For example, our new smaller-sized pediatric telescope enables me to perform delicate dissection on small patients or even exotic species. The integration equipment within the suite also transmits
this information from various video and data sources and routes it to multiple locations both inside and outside the operating room. The suite is linked with the hospital infor- mation systems and radiology, and allows the clinicians to access critical patient information and medical images.
referring veterinarians and owners because they know the patient is receiving the most advanced level of care we can provide at our hospital.
What surgical advancements/improvements do you foresee taking place over the next few years? I think that we should expect some dramatic advancements on the minimally invasive front: t 8F NBZ TFF UIF /05&4 OBUVSBM PSJGJDF USBOTMVNJOBM FOEPTDPQJD TVSHFSZ QMBUGPSN emerge as a viable alternative to laparoscopic surgery.
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occurring in human surgery. Since these modalities are taking place now in humans, it may be safe to say that they are headed our way too. ■
To read Dr. Runge's biography, turn to page 20. January/February 2012 Today's Veterinary Practice