This January, Dr. Shufer attended the North American Veterinary Conference(NAVC) in Orlando, Florida.  The NAVC is one of the largest veterinary conferences in the world, attended by over 5000 veterinarians, veterinary technicians and vendors of veterinary drugs and equipment.  

At the conference, Dr. Shufer attended intensive, hands on workshops in the areas of:

• Advanced Laser Surgical techniques
• External Fixation of fractures 
• Advanced ultrasound diagnostics

In addition, he attended over 20 hours of lectures on such diverse topics as feline liver disease, to emerging cancer therapies.  

Laser Surgery Workshop:

In the laser workshop, Dr. Shufer learned the fine points of using laser for the following surgical procedures:

• Removal of the anal glands 
• Removal of the nose in pets with cancer 
• Removal of the floppy portion of the ear for cancer therapy
• Correction of elongated soft palates, narrow nostrils and everted tonsils and laryngeal saccules in brachycephalic breeds (pug nosed breeds)
• Removal of tumors of the tongue
• Removal of the ear
• Correction of rolled in eyelids (entropion) 

With the information gained at this course, we are able to use our surgical laser to its fullest potential. 

External Fixation of Fractures:

Fractures of the long bones are often repaired with casts, plates and screws, pins and wires and external fixators.  External fixators are devices that hold broken bones in place while they heal. They share the weight bearing load with the limb so that the pet can get around without disrupting the fracture site. 

In the past few years, new techniques and materials have made external fixation a very viable technique for fracture fixation. During this course, Dr. Shufer learned the subtleties of using this new equipment properly, adding to our options in the management of fractured bones. 

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Last modified: November 15, 2007