Laparoscopic cryptorchidectomy can be safely performed with a vessel sealing-device in dorsal recumbent horses. This method was effective and did not result in any complication in our case series.

Objective: To describe a new technique to repair a sinocutaneous fistula with a masseter muscle transposition flap. Study design: Case report.Animal: One 13-year-old thoroughbred stallion. Methods: One 13-year-old stallion with a 3.5 × 6-cm sinocutaneous fistula over the right caudal maxillary sinus was treated with a transpositional masseter muscle flap. This repair consisted of a commercial wound matrix dressing placed directly over the hole in the maxilla and secured with suture material; a cancellous bone graft collected from the right tuber coxa placed on the dressing; and a portion of the superficial layer of the masseter muscle, with its pedicle at the facial crest, transposed dorsally over the bone graft, followed by a rotational skin flap with skin rostral to the fistula to close the defect.Results: Seroma formation and dehiscence of the skin flap occurred, but the transposed muscle flap survived, and the technique resulted in successful closure of the sinocutaneous fistula with excellent cosmetic and functional outcome. Conclusion: A chronic maxillary sinocutaneous fistula was successfully treated by using a transposition flap of the masseter muscle and a rotational skin flap with minor complications.Clinical impact: Transposition of the superficial layer of the masseter muscle should be considered for a repair of large maxillary sinocutaneous fistulas in horses.

Polydioxanone is as effective as chromic gut suture material in inducing abomasal adhesion formation in our sheep model. The clinical significance of the size and grade of adhesions formed is unknown and requires further investigation before the laparoscopic toggle technique can be recommended as a replacement for paramedian abomasopexy in cattle for the treatment of displaced abomasum.

No abstract

OBJECTIVE To compare strain at the bone-pin and cast-pin interfaces among 3 transfixation pin–cast constructs applied to equine forelimbs. ANIMALS 15 forelimbs from 15 adult horses. PROCEDURES Limbs were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 constructs. Centrally threaded positive-profile pins were used for all constructs, and the most distal pin was placed just proximal to the epicondyles of the third metacarpal bone. Construct 1 consisted of two 6.3-mm-diameter pins spaced 4 cm apart at 30° to each other. Construct 2 was the same as construct 1 except the pins were placed 5 cm apart. Construct 3 consisted of four 4.8-mm-diameter pins spaced 2 cm apart and at 10° to one another. An osteotomy was created in the proximal phalanx. Strain gauges were attached to the cast and bone proximal to the pins and adjacent to the osteotomy. Limbs underwent compressive loading until failure. Simplified finite element models of constructs 1 and 3 were created to further evaluate strain and load transfer between the bone and cast. RESULTS Strain did not differ between constructs 1 and 2. Compared with the 2-pin constructs, construct 3 had less strain at the bone-pin interface and more strain at the cast-pin interface, which indicated a greater amount of load was transferred to the cast of the 4-pin construct than the cast of the 2-pin constructs. Finite element modeling supported those findings. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE Results suggested that the 4-pin construct was more effective in unloading the fractured bone than either 2-pin construct.