Surgical Wound Infection Rates in Dogs and Cats Data from a Teaching Hospital

Two thousand sixty-three surgical procedures were performed on 1992 patients (1715 dogs and 277 cats). In a retrospective analysis, the procedures were categorized according to the expected degree of wound contamination, and corresponding wound infection rates were determined. The number of procedures in each category and the percent that became infected were as follows: clean (1100, 2.5%), clean-contaminated (554, 4.5%), contaminated (172, 5.8%), and dirty (237, 18.1%). The administration of antibiotics significantly reduced the frequency of wound infection in clean surgical procedures performed by senior veterinary students (p less than 0.05), but not in clean elective procedures performed by faculty or resident surgeons that required 90 minutes or less to complete. There was a significant correlation between elevation of rectal temperature postoperatively and increased duration of the surgical procedure. However, the rectal temperature measured the day after surgery was not an accurate predictor of wound infection.     

Results of Screw/Wire/Polymethylmethacrylate Composite Fixation for Acetabular Fracture Repair in 14 Dogs

Objective- To assess the clinical results in dogs with acetabular fractures stabilized using a screw-wire-polymethylmethacrylate (SWP) composite fixation.
Study Design- A retrospective study of client-owned dogs with acetabular fractures.
Animals- Fourteen dogs ranging in age from 4 to 95 months (mean, 34 ±25 months; median, 25 months) and body weight from 8 to 39 kg (mean, 25 ±6 kg; median, 27 kg).
Methods- Medical records and radiographs were retrospectively evaluated to determine location of the fracture, presence of preexisting degenerative joint disease, accuracy of fracture reduction and complications associated with surgery. Long-term results were evaluated by subjective assessment of lameness, elicitation of pain and/or crepitus on manipulation of the coxofemoral joint, measurements of pelvic limb circumference, coxofemoral joint goniometric measurements, and radiographic evaluation.
Results- Fracture reduction was considered anatomic in 13 dogs. At the time of the last follow-up evaluation (mean, 347 ±261 days; median, 380 days) 10 dogs were sound on the affected limb, three dogs had a subtle weight-bearing lameness of the affected limb, and the remaining dog had a consistent non-weight-bearing lameness of the affected limb. Mild (n = 10) or moderate (n = 1) degenerative changes of the affected coxofemoral joint attributed to the acetabular fracture and its repair were noted on the follow-up radiographs in 11 dogs. Limb circumference of the affected limb ranged from -8.2% to +10.8% (mean, -0.8 ±4.2%; median, -0.7%) of the contralateral limb.
Conclusions- The SWP composite fixation consistently maintained anatomic reduction, was associated with few complications, and yielded satisfactory clinical results.
Clinical Relevance- The SWP composite fixation technique would seem to be an acceptable means of stabilizing acetabular fractures in dogs.     

Processes controlling retention of spring‐spawned Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) in the western Gulf of Maine and their relationship to an index of recruitment success

Atlantic cod, Gadus morhua, harvested in US waters are currently managed as a Gulf of Maine stock and as a stock comprising Georges Bank and southern New England populations. Over the past two and a half decades, success of age‐1 recruitment to the Gulf of Maine stock has varied by more than an order of magnitude. To investigate the hypothesis that this variation is related to variation in the transport of larval cod to nursery areas, we carried out model simulations of the movement of planktonic eggs and larvae spawned within the western Gulf of Maine during spring spawning events of 1995–2005. Results indicate that the retention of spring‐spawned cod, and their transport to areas suitable for early stage juvenile development, is strongly dependent on local wind conditions. Larval cod retention is favored during times of downwelling‐favorable winds and is least likely during times of upwelling‐favorable winds, during which buoyant eggs and early stage larvae tend to be advected offshore to the Western Maine Coastal Current and subsequently carried out of the Gulf of Maine. Model results also indicate that diel vertical migration of later stage larvae enhances the likelihood of retention within the western Gulf of Maine. Consistent with model results is a strong correlation between age‐1 recruitment success to the Gulf of Maine cod stock and the mean northward wind velocity measured in Massachusetts Bay during May. Based on these findings, we propose a wind index for strong recruitment success of age‐1 cod to the Gulf of Maine stock.     

IMAGING DIAGNOSIS—EQUINE MAST CELL TUMOR

Equine mast cell tumors are typically benign solitary growths of the head, neck, trunk, or limbs. When involving the limbs, these masses tend to be adjacent to joints without involving them. In radiographs there is often a well-circumscribed soft tissue mass with granular mineralization. The Arabian breed appears to be over represented. Surgical removal is usually curative. In this report, we describe the diagnosis, clinical features, and management of mast cell tumors in the rear limb of a horse.     

Population dynamics of the exploited sea cucumber Isostichopus fuscus in the western Galápagos Islands, Ecuador

Long-term density data for the sea cucumber, Isostichopus fuscus, from Canal Bolivar (separating western Isabela and eastern Fernandina Islands), Galápagos, were compared with catch statistics and used in a stock depletion model to determine the extent of the effects of the fishery on the existing population and the potential for the population to recover after each fishing season. Recruitment indices were found to be low from 1994 until mid-1999, when a mass recruitment event was registered and numbers of small individuals increased dramatically. The increase in density of juveniles peaked in 2001 and has declined since. Recruitment in this species of sea cucumber appears to be highly sporadic and may depend on intense climatic events such as the warm El Niño. Current levels of fishing activity are unsustainable. The management implications of pulse recruitment in this fishery are discussed.     

HEPATIC AND PANCREATICOBILIARY MRI AND MR CHOLANGIOPANCREATOGRAPHY WITH AND WITHOUT SECRETIN STIMULATION IN NORMAL CATS

Magnetic resonance (MR) cholangiopancreatography is useful in humans to diagnose biliary and pancreatic diseases. Some of these protocols incorporate the use of secretin, which stimulates the exocrine pancreas to release bicarbonate with secondary dilation of the pancreatic duct. We compared the utility and quality of multiple hepatic‐pancreaticobiliary MR imaging sequences before and after secretin stimulation of the pancreatic duct in five healthy cats. Multiple MR sequences were evaluated, including fast Spoiled Gradient Recalled in‐ and out‐of‐phase, Single Shot Fast Spin Echo (SSFSE), T2 Fast Spin Echo, MR cholangiopancreatography (pre‐ and postsecretin administration), and Fast Acquisition with Multiphase Efgre (FAME) (postsecretin and before and after gadolinium administration). The MR cholangiopancreatography protocol with secretin stimulation was feasible and yielded high‐contrast maps of the biliary ductal anatomy but the pancreactic duct was seen inconsistently. The FAME series most consistently provided visualization of biliary and postsecretin pancreatic ductal anatomy, combined with very good depiction of the liver and pancreas. The remaining sequences each had satisfactory utility and diagnostic quality, with the exception of the SSFSE sequences. Secretin improved the conspicuity of the pancreatic duct.     

Tube Cystostomy for Treatment of Obstructive Urolithiasis in Small Ruminants

Tube cystostomy was used to treat 13 goats and two sheep with obstructive urolithiasis. The cystostomy tube was intermittently occluded 3 to 4 days after placement to determine if urine could be voided through the urethra. If the animal showed no discomfort during urination after the cystostomy tube had been occluded for several days, the tube was removed. This procedure was successful in relieving urethral obstruction in 12 animals. The mean time until the animal could urinate freely and until the cystostomy tube was removed was 11.5 and 14.4 days respectively. Follow-up was available for 10 animals; seven were alive with no recurrence of urinary obstruction. One goat died from causes unrelated to urinary obstruction 1 year postoperatively. One goat died from unknown causes, and one goat died after urinary obstruction recurred.