Bowel welding technique in dogs and cats using a diode laser: an experimental study

A laser bowel welding technique for dogs and cats was developed. The bowel was pinched using a special clamp having an opening on the body developed for this experiment (LW clamp). Using the 2 different types of contact probe (blunt tip: Laser Bipolar Dissector (LBD); sharp tip: Super Scalpel Dissector (SSD)), the laser passed through the hole in the LW clamp to cut the bowels, while at the same time, sealing the cut portion. The results obtained in this study showed that the optimum laser output using LBD was 6-10 W in dog and cat ileum, and 8-10 W in dog and cat colon. Optimum laser output using SSD was 6-8 W in dog ileum, 8-10 W in dog colon, 10 W in cat ileum and 6-8 W in cat colon. No marked differences were observed between ileum and colon when using either LBD or SSD. At the same power, burst pressure tended to be slightly higher with LBD than with SSD, although there were not significant differences between them. Histologically, complete sealing of the welded site was seen. Welding and cutting of bowel in dogs and cats was thus confirmed to be possible using the LW clamp in combination with LBD or SSD probes under a diode laser output of approximately 8 W for 50-80 s (400-640 J/cm). Thus, we can expect that this method is applicable to clinical veterinary medicine.