Page 8 - BSAVA Manual of Canine and Feline Head, Neck and Thoracic Surgery, 2nd Edition

Foreword
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Very early on, my surgical career narrowed to the head, neck and chest of dogs and cats.
Dr Anjop Venker van Haagen and I established the International Veterinary Ear Nose and Throat
Association (IVENTA) in the early 1980s. However, further focusing of my academic career on
dentistry and oro-maxillofacial surgery did not allow me time to continue with ear, nose and
throat work, which was handed on to my Penn Vet colleague Dr David Holt, one of the editors of
the BSAVA Manual of Canine and Feline Head, Neck and Thoracic Surgery.
The invitation to write this Foreword has provided the opportunity for me to consider the
substantial progress that has been made in this field, of which there are several major
presentation themes warranting consideration, which have been addressed in this latest
edition. The challenges of treating airway abnormalities linked to brachycephalism, the
constraints of complex bony anatomy and rich vascularity of the head when performing radical
surgery for neoplasia in these areas, and the treatment of trauma headlined, of course, by
‘high-rise syndrome’ in cats and road traffic accidents, have all been covered.

The challenge when performing surgery for any of these conditions is ensuring airway function
from the moment the endotracheal tube is removed. The establishment of the first Veterinary
Intensive Care Unit, at the University of Pennsylvania, allowed my early work in airway surgery
to be much more successful. Airway procedures should not be undertaken unless the requisite
level of anesthetic management and postoperative monitoring and care is available. This
requirement is, of course, a critical factor in the work that Dr Dan Brockman and colleagues
have been pursuing in clinical open heart surgery in dogs; a well-trained team is needed.
The authors of this second edition of the BSAVA Manual of Canine and Feline Head, Neck and
Thoracic Surgery have been selected to ensure that the most recent techniques, and associated
diagnostic information and clinical care, are available in an authoritative, well-organized and
illustrated format. I have no doubt this edition will serve practicing veterinarians well.

Colin Harvey BVSc DipACVS DipAVDC DipEVDC FRCVS
Emeritus Professor of Surgery and Dentistry,
University of Pennsylvania

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