Featured Services - Equine Emergency Surgery and Critical Care Service
The Equine Emergency Surgery and Critical Care Service is dedicated to emergency and critical care needs of equine patients. The service provides 24-hour access to specialized emergency surgery and intensive care management of colic, trauma, and orthopedic emergencies. The integration of experienced and knowledgeable clinicians, veterinary technicians and students in a fully equipped and technologically advanced facility raises the standard of care for these critically ill horses.
Three board certified surgeons, Drs. Julie Dechant, Sarah le Jeune and Jorge Nieto, direct and supervise the care of emergency and critical care patients. Resident veterinarians and veterinary students are part of the cooperative effort involved in management of these patients. A team of certified veterinary technicians provides constant supervision and critical care monitoring for hospitalized horses at a ratio of 1 veterinary technician for every 2 critical care patients 24-hours a day.
A fully staffed surgical team, including board certified surgeons and resident veterinarians, is on stand-by 24 hours per day for surgical emergencies. Board certified anesthesiologists provide optimal anesthetic management of these critical surgical patients. Specialists in allied disciplines, such as equine medicine, reproduction and radiology, are always available to assist in the diagnosis and management of multi-system disease or complicated conditions. Diagnostic imaging is available in Large Animal Radiology and Ultrasound, blood typing and cross matching is performed in the hematology laboratory, and a full service diagnostic laboratory provides in-depth clinicopathological assessments.
The Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital is proud to showcase the development of the Equine Emergency Surgery and Critical Care Service. By increasing the standard of care for emergency and critical care cases, this service enhances and expands the specialized veterinary resources available to equine patients, clients and referring veterinarians throughout California and neighbouring states.
Figure captions (from top left to right):
- • A severe pastern fracture is stabilized with a transfixation pin cast.
- • A solitary enterolith (containing a large nail) is evident on an abdominal radiograph.
- • Multiple enteroliths retrieved from one horse.
- • A miniature horse recovers after surgery for chronic colic.
- • The equine emergency surgery team works to save another patient.
