Page 27 - Eclipse - RVC Alumni Magazine - Autumn 2020

Limb saved by unusual pad graft procedure
Hermione, an eight-year-old domestic shorthair cat, was presented to RVC Small Animal Referrals for unknown trauma
and, following wound management to achieve healthy tissue, was left without any digits on her right hindfoot.
Amputation of the limb was offered as an option, but Hermione’s owners were keen to try to save the limb so a plan to try novel free pad grafting, alongside traditional skin grafting, was devised by the RVC Wound Clinic team.
Treatment involved a full thickness meshed free skin graft from the thorax being used to cover the 360-degree
defect around the right hind metatarsal region. Free pad punch grafts from the metacarpal pads and free pad transfer of both carpal pads were used to create a weightbearing ‘stump’.
Postoperative care included negative pressure wound therapy (as pictured) for five days to aid healing of the free skin graft and pad grafts.
Hermione lost a portion of her grafts due to infection between days five and 10 but a good amount of skin and pad graft take was achieved, which allowed full healing of her wounds and the creation of a weightbearing ‘stump’ for her to walk on. Hermione uses her right hindlimb normally to walk around the house and her owners are very pleased that she has kept her leg.
CLINICAL SERVICES
WOUND MANAGEMENT ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY
3-D Silhouette camera
This camera uses laser beams to measure the area and volume of the wound for accurate comparisons
of wound progression. Software calculates 3-D measurements of
the wound’s area, depth, volume
and perimeter. Relevant wound assessment details, such as age and any co-morbidities are also captured. The referring vet receives a wound report from the RVC team, detailing findings and recommendations.
Therapeutic K-laser
Some wounds and selected surgical incisions/flaps/grafts may benefit
from treatment with a class IV K-Laser therapeutic laser. This therapy may speed healing by up to 30%. It can help to heal infected wounds, even those with multi-resistant infections, as the laser stimulates the immune system and increases tissue oxygenation
and local blood supply. Wound management recommendations may be actioned at the RVC or the referring veterinary practice, depending on the patient’s needs. Outpatient wound management at the RVC is available for owners and referring veterinarians who would like regular advice on a wound and monitor its progression.
Hermione after three months
Negative pressure wound therapy
Celebrating blood donors at the RVC’s Transfusion Medicine Service
The RVC’s Transfusion Medicine Service is vital in enabling the RVC hospitals to access blood products at any time of day and supporting them through emergency and critical surgeries. Whether it’s a high-risk heart operation, a road traffic accident or the body’s own immune system attacking itself, clinicians require access to the blood products these patients need.
Since March, it has been an extremely busy time in the department, and they had to face numerous challenges surrounding physical distancing when accepting blood donations. The team responded
by processing a large storage of blood products and recruited an additional 14 donors to ensure that blood products would not run out. In addition, the RVC Animal Care Trust (ACT) has funded a Transfusion Medicine Assistant to support
the team and provide additional care for our blood donors.
World Blood Donor Day
In June, we celebrated World Blood Donor Day. The day gives us a chance to celebrate some of our amazing, lifesaving blood donors. In the past year, the RVC has received 67 feline donations and 299 canine donations, allowing the team to undertake a total of 814 transfusions.
In recognition of these life-saving donations, the ACT gives an award to two exemplary donors – one cat and one dog. The two 'Donors of the Year’ awards have been presented to Fidget Candy, a cat who has donated 17 times, and Oscar Warner, a dog who has donated 10 times.
Fidget joined the programme in 2014, when she was a one year old. Her 17 donations
since then have made her the most prolific feline donor on the programme so far. Oscar also joined the programme in 2014. He is a particularly special donor because he is the most prolific serum blood donor which the programme has ever seen. Serum is a vital element when treating injuries to the cornea.
Dog Blood Donor of the Year 2020 – Oscar
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