SURGERY
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5a
5b
Step 6:
At the conclusion of surgery, an 8- to 10-F red rubber catheter (not pictured here) should be able to be
easily passed from the urethral stoma to the urinary
bladder.
gery. Place a self-restraint collar, and advise owners to keep
it on the patient for one week. Occasional dripping of blood
concurrent with or at the end of urination is common for
the first three to five days after surgery. Nonabsorbable sutures are removed two weeks after surgery with the patient
sedated, and absorbable sutures will fall out spontaneously.
Postoperative care
Urethral catheterization is not maintained after sur-
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Comments on Scrotal Urethrostomy
Prof Louis Coetzee (BVSc, MMedVet (Surg)
Department of Companion Animal Clinical Studies, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences
All that I can ad to this article are the following:
1. We are currently using 5/0 Vicryl to attach the urethral
mucosa to the scrotal skin with a continuous suture
pattern - this method helps to prevent postoperative
haemorrhage every time the dog is urinating.
2. It is recommended to apply white petroleum jelly
(Vaseline) on the exposed urethra twice daily for the
first 4 to 5 postoperative days to prevent drying out of
the urethral mucosa and this also discourages the dog
from licking the area.
3. It is imperative to keep the animal sedated with a phenothiazine derivative such as chlorpromaxine (Lar-
vet360
Issue 04 | JULY 2015 | 34
gactil) at 3mg/kg (PO) q12 for the first 10 to 12 days
after surgery to prevent hypertension and scrotal skin
haemorrhage as well.
4. The dog has to wear an Elizabethan collar (Buster
plastic collar) during the first 14 days to prevent self
mutilation of the scrotal urethrostomy.
5. The owner has to clean the skin on the medial thigh
areas every day with Hibitane in water if there is any
blood stains on the skin.
6. The dog must be kept away from any bitches in
oestrus during the rehabilitation period (6 to 8 weeks
after the operation).