Neurological Surgery at BVSC
A neurological surgeon focuses on neurological diseases involving the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nerves. These neurological conditions can be acute following trauma or they may be chronic from degenerative disease. At BVSC, our surgeons are also skilled in the field of neuro-oncology for pets with cancer affecting the brain, spinal cord and peripheral nerves. There are many tumours of the nervous system that responds well to surgical removal either alone or in combination with radiation therapy and chemotherapy.
Advance imaging is very important in the field of neurology as the majority of neurological conditions require high definition advance imaging for a diagnosis. BVSC is well-equipped in this area with a high speed computerized tomography (CT) and access to high field magnetic image intensification (MRI 3 & 7T).
Neurological surgeries are very delicate surgeries as the tissues involved are very “fragile”. Our surgeons are equipped with a variety of specialised instruments to allow them to achieve the best results. Loupe magnification is also used during surgery to allow precise and careful dissection and tissue handling.
At BVSC we pride ourselves on ‘surrounding the patient’ with multiple specialists in different fields. Sometimes, a neurological condition may not need surgical intervention as there are a lot of medical neurological conditions in the veterinary field as well. The specialist surgeons and internal medicine specialists at BVSC work closely together to ensure that all aspects of your patient’s condition are covered.
Our radiation oncology team also frequently becomes involved for managing cancers of the nervous system and having their input from the beginning allows a coordinated and effective treatment plan.
Most of our neurosurgery patients benefit from receiving hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT). This is where 100% oxygen is delivered at two atmospheres of pressure. The nervous system tissues have a very high demand for oxygen. Animals are comfortable in the chamber and enjoy the effects while pure oxygen is essentially forced into damaged and oxygen staved tissues which are inadequately perfused. BVSC has the only HBOT chamber for use in small animals in Queensland.
Treating Intevertebral Disc Disease – Information For Pet Owners
Intervertebral disc disease is unfortunately a common disease seen in certain dog breeds (chondrodystrophic breeds such as the Dachshund). IVDD is caused by accelerated disc degeneration at an early age which can lead to extrusion or protrusion of the degenerated disc into the spinal canal, causing bruising and compression of the spinal cord. This can occur in the cervical spine (neck), thoracolumbar spine (middle back) and lumbar spine (lower back). IVDD occurs most commonly in the thoracolumbar region.
