Main description:

Pitfalls in Veterinary Surgery offers a candid examination of real-life mistakes and mishaps encountered while operating on veterinary patients. * Describes a range of mistakes and mishaps encountered by a veterinary surgeon with 30+ years of experience * Provides an honest examination of the reality of operating on pets * Offers the opportunity to learn from an experienced surgeon s mistakes * Discusses mistakes in a wide range of situations, ranging from commonplace to unusual * Presents a realistic view of veterinary surgery, including how to live with mistakes

Contents:

Notes on Contributors vii Acknowledgments ix Preface xi 1 Can t You Do Anything Right? : The Shocking Realization That I Was Not Perfect 1 2 Beastly Bellies 5 3 The Friday Night Special: Or Why Do Patients Become Critical Just Before the Weekend? 15 4 Between a Rock and a Hard Place: When to Refer and What Do You Do When Referral Is Not an Option? 27 5 Courage, Mystery, and Awe: The Intangibles of Being a Veterinary Doctor 39 Julie M. Meadows 6 Placed on Earth to Test Us: The Not ]So ]Humble Spay 43 Catherine F. Le Bars 7 Oops! : Not a Good Word to Hear During Surgery 47 8 Learning the Hard Way: Student, Resident, Teacher 57 9 But I Don t Want to Look Stupid : How to Let Others Help You 65 10 It Didn t Look Like That on Paper! : When Textbooks Let Us Down 73 11 It Will Be Interesting to See Whether That Works : How to Be a Creative Surgeon 83 12 When the Unthinkable Happens: Mishaps, Mis ]steps, and Medical Errors 95 13 Things Went South Now What? 103 14 There s Got to Be a Morning After : Things Went Wrong Now Live With It 111 15 One Leg Too Many: Patients Who Lost Limbs 121 16 Reconstruction Rescue: When the Hole Just Keeps Getting Bigger and Bigger 133 17 Why Is Sam Straining? : Iatrogenic Strictures and Stray Oddities 143 18 An Alien in My Waiting Room : Everyday Occurences of the Unexpected and Unbelievable 155 19 Rewind: What Would I Do Differently If I Had the Chance? 167 Index 171