Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital

Hey guys! Just a little update on my summer, sorry I haven’t been very active on here, I have just been crazy busy. Time is literally flying by, I cannot believe it is almost July. Working here at Rood and Riddle has had its ups and downs. Even though I’ve been here since May I am still learning new things every day, so I’m not as efficient as the other technicians but I’m getting there. I have learned a lot about technical things such as instruments, machines, and suture material which will be helpful for clinics and the rest of my career.

I am now consistently taking cases as a technician, which is very stressful because I don’t want to upset the surgeons. Like I said before there is a lot to know and every doctor does things differently. Since I am new to all of this I mainly help with transphyseal screws, arthroscopies, and colics. The more advanced surgery technicians are in charge of the more complicated surgeries such as fracture repairs and arthrodesis. Therefore I’m seeing similar surgeries every day, which to me is great, I am getting more and more comfortable with them each day.

With that, I am going to go through what a transphyseal screw (TPS) placement surgery looks like. First we start by prepping the leg, every surgeon is different on how they want it prepped. For example some have you clip with a 40 blade as others prefer a 10 blade. Prepping the patient for this surgery includes clipping, a rough prep with chlorhexidine and alcohol followed by a sterile prep. The prepping takes places in what they call the transfer area which is right outside of the operating room. Once you are finished prepping you will roll the horse into the room and hoist the leg and position the light on the surgical site. The surgeon will then drape and begin the surgery. He starts by making a small incision and then uses a drill bit to create a hole, next the a drill bit is inserted through the drill guide and the drill bit is advanced through the cortex. Most often 3.5 mm screws are placed in these foals. Once the screw is placed, digital radiographs are taken to insure that the screw was placed in the correct location. The incisions are then closed and bandages are placed. As a technician you are then responsible to take the horse to the recovery stall and page for a recovery person to take over your patient.

The purpose of the TPS placement is to correct a foal with angular limb deformity. This condition if left alone can cause lameness and affect a horses performance. Therefore, for sales purposes excellent confirmation is needed.

Let me know if you have any questions! I am still enjoying beautiful Lexington and don’t want to leave anytime soon. J