Rodger Veterinary Services
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403-861-0778 rodger@creatingsanctuary.com
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I
graduated from the Western College of Veterinary
Medicine in 1977. Upon graduation, I joined a
pet and horse practice in Prince George, BC and
worked there for 8 years. In 1985, my wife
Pamela and I saw an opportunity to build a new
practice and life for our family with
opportunities for our children, Keri and Simon.
That brought us to Bragg Creek, Alberta and the
creation of Bragg Creek Animal Hospital and The
Fine Line Pottery Studio and Store (later to
become The Full Moon Gallery). After 20 years,
we sold the
building and practice. I now work at Marda Loop Veterinary Services in Calgary (403-243-8873) on a part time contract basis. There I am able to use my acupuncture and Chinese Medicine training along with my traditional western training. With the help of the ownership at Marda Loop, I have trained and introduced single port laparoscopic surgery - a minimally invasive and less painful technique for many procedures - to the Calgary veterinary community. Rodger Veterinary Services also offers house call services to clients in the Bragg Creek area. Second opinion consultations and diagnostic interpretations are also available. |
| In the fall of 2008, I went
to Ohio State Veterinary College to learn about
veterinary laparoscopy. Because multiple port
(holes) require much surgical skill and
dexterity with the instruments, the single port
idea appealed to me. I was instantly hooked! The
scope provides an incredible view of the inside
of the chest or abdomen and the procedures that
can be done are limited only by one's
imagination. Dr. Romano the owner of Marda Loop
Vet Centre in Calgary recognized the value of
this equipment for providing less painful,
minimally invasive surgeries to our patients and
elected to purchase the equipment. I did further
training at Denver under the instruction of
The
centre for Advancement of Rigid Endoscopy .
The equipment used is designed by medical engineers with excellent input by veterinarians knowing the needs of general practitioners regarding ease of use and space restrictions. The procedures are easy to learn - especially if one has some video game experience! They can be accomplished by regular vets reducing the need for highly trained and expensive surgical specialists. The procedures most suited for use of the single port laparoscope include spays, retained testicles, liver and other internal biopsies, exploratory surgery, bladder stones, and gastropexy (attaching the stomach wall to the body wall to prevent twisting and bloat - a life threatening condition in certain breeds of dogs). These surgeries can be accomplished through an incision about 1/2" long. The most common use for us is the spay (ovariohysterectomy). In the traditional spay, whether using scalpel or laser, we note increased heart rate despite the general anesthesia when the ovaries are pulled to the abdomenal incision to ligate or laser for removal. This suggests a pain response despite the anesthetic as the ovarian ligament is pulled from the body wall. With the laparoscope, there is no need to tear this tissue as the suspended ovary is easy to visualize. A bipolar cautery instrument is inserted through the center of the scope and cauterizes and cuts the needed tissue. Our other vets have learned these techniques and prefer to use it over the traditional spays for larger and mature dogs. In Sept 2011, Dr. Romano and I will be training with arthroscopes so that we can visualize inside joints to assess damage or arthritic change and help restore function where we can. This will be an excellent addition to Dr. Romano's Rehabilitation Referral practice. |
Dr. Bruce Rodger, BSc., DVM 
