Traditionally most surgical procedures in horses were performed under general anaesthesia but, due to the large size of most equine patients, this is not without risk. In the past decade advances have been made that allow many procedures previously performed under general anaesthesia to now be performed in the standing sedated patient using local anaesthetic techniques. This reduces the risk to the patient and also the cost of the procedure.
Procedures commonly performed under standing sedation at Belvoir Equine Clinic include:
• Debriding and suturing traumatic wounds
• Kissing spines surgery
• Enucleation (removal of a badly damaged eye)
• Laser surgery to remove skin tumours including sarcoids & melanomas
• Removal of fractured splint bones
• Infected cheek tooth extraction
• Removal of keratoma – a hard tumour on the inside of the hoof capsule
• Tendon and ligament cutting procedures to correct locking stifles,
flexural deformities & strains to the annular and supraspinous ligaments.
• Laparoscopy
