Page 297 - Clinical Manual of Small Animal Endosurgery

Small Exotic Animal Endosurgery 285

(a)

(b) (c)

Fig. 10.7 Endosurgery can even occasionally be applied to orthopaedic cases. A white-tailed
sea eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) with a large sequestrum that formed after a humerus fracture had
this removed minimally invasively under endoscopic visualisation. (a) Removal of pieces of the
sequestrum using forceps. (b) X-ray visualisation of the fractured humerus. (c) The removed
pieces of bone.

Reptiles

Minimally invasive endosurgical techniques are particularly advanta-
geous in reptiles, as wound healing progresses much more slowly than
in birds and mammals.

Rhinoscopy
The small entrance to the nares precludes the use of rhinoscopy in any-
thing but large tortoises and turtles. If performing anterior rhinoscopy,
the patient must be intubated, and preferably a swab placed over the
tracheal entrance to prevent aspiration of fluid instilled via the nares.