Vittorio Caramello

• Doctor of Veterinary Medicine
• Three counties equine hospital

Objective: To compare three surgical knots for preventing leakage from the vascular bundle during ligation in simulated equine open castrations. Study design: Randomized, case-control, in vitro study. Sample population: Testes (N = 60) collected from 30 horses. Methods: Testes were collected from 30 horses and randomly assigned to one of thr...

In this study the caecum and large colon were harvested from 24 slaughtered horses. On each sample, an 8‑cm long enterotomy was performed. Enterotomies were closed using either barbed or unbarbed glycomer‑631. We compared the time to close, appearance, length of suture material, bursting pressure, and costs associated with each type of material. Ou...

Background Post‐operative complications are reported for all methods of equine cheek tooth extraction but not all methods carry the same risks. An outcome comparison for commonly used methods is needed so that clinicians can make informed treatment decisions. Objectives We conducted a side‐by‐side comparison of five cheek tooth extraction methods,...

OBJECTIVE To determine the most effective hemostatic knot configuration performed by veterinary students following a brief training session with an experienced surgeon and a subsequent deliberate self-training period. DESIGN Experiment. SAMPLE 24 fourth-year veterinary students with no previous surgical knot–tying experience. PROCEDURES In a 1-hour...

Background: Serra and Reimer emasculators are frequently used during equine orchiectomy. They differ in their jaw profile and haemostatic mechanism provided. Objectives: (1) To evaluate whether there is a difference between the haemostatic capacity of Reimer and Serra emasculators in open and closed castration and (2) compare haemostatic capacit...

Background Honey, alone or in combination, has been used for wound healing since ancient times and has reemerged as a topic of interest in the last decade. Pectin has recently been investigated for its use in various biomedical applications such as drug delivery, skin protection, and scaffolding for cells. The aim of the present study was to develo...

CASE DESCRIPTION 8 horses (5 geldings and 3 mares) were evaluated for laparoscopic closure of the nephrosplenic space following a history of recurrent left dorsal displacement of the large colon. CLINICAL FINDINGS All horses underwent a physical examination and routine clinicopathologic testing. Transrectal palpation and transabdominal ultrasonogra...

The objective of this study was to investigate whether cleaning surgical materials used to close pelvic flexure enterotomies with a wet sterile gauze will reduce contamination and whether the use of a full thickness appositional suture pattern (F) or a partial thickness inverting (or Cushing) suture pattern (C) would make a difference in the level...

A one-month-old, Piedmontese female calf was admitted to the Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Turin, for repair of a large ventral hernia. A large ventral hernia, approximately 20 cm long and 15 cm large was noticed extending from 3 cm caudal to the umbilicus down to the pubis. At ultrasonography the hernia content was represented b...

Lameness evaluations with flexion tests are a routine procedure for equine practitioners and are commonly used in both lame and sound horses [1-6]. The force applied by the surgeon, during a flexion test, has a strong influence on the outcome of this test [2,3,5].The objective of this study wasto verify if a commercially available pressure-sensitiv...

Left dorsal displacement of the large colon is common condition in horses, with reported recurrence rates ranging from 3.2% to 21% [1]. A number of techniques for laparoscopic ablation of the nephrosplenic space have been described [2], with the most common being ablation with laparoscopic suturing [3]. Specifically, a new type of suture material h...

Castration is one of the most common surgical procedures in the horse. Although considered a routinary procedure, surgical complications constitute the most common cause of malpractice claims against equine veterinarians. Surgical removal of the testis can be performed using a open or closed castration as reported in literature. A modification of t...

The use of honey in wound healing is ancient. It could be used alone or in combination with other compounds and became a topic of interest in several investigation in last decade [1-2]. Pectin has been recently investigated for various biomedical applications, such as drug delivery, skin protection and as scaffold for cells [3]. Pectin is inexpensi...

Epidural anaesthesia has been described in cattle for various surgical procedures.[1] Combination of intravenous (IV) xylazine and caudal high volume epidural anaesthesia with xylazine and lidocaine has provided satisfactory analgesia for abdominal surgery.[2] This combination has good and prolonged analgesic effect but in young animals IV xylazine...

Umbilical infections, such as omphalophlebitis, omphaloarteritis and infection of the urachus are common during neonatal period in calves [1]. If medical treatment fails, resection of infected umbilical structures is usually performed [1-2]. Twenty-six Piedmontese calves referred to the OVU of the University of Turin for persistent umbilical diseas...

Castration is one of the most commonly performed surgical procedures in horses, and the most common complications encountered are bleeding, evisceration, eventration and septic funiculitis [1]. Septic funiculitis had historically been classified as “scirrhous cord” (infection of the spermatic cord remnant with Staphylococcus sp) or “champignon” (in...

Background: Ischemic and reperfusion (I/R) injuries are recognized after stroke, myocardial infarction, transplant, trauma and intestinal strangulation. IR tissue damage mechanism is not completely understood, but it was suggested that the oxidative stress leads to inflammatory mediators release, leukocytes activation, apoptosis and necrosis. Previ...

The force applied by the surgeon, during a flexion test, has a strong influence on the outcome of the test. The objective of this study was to verify if a commercially available pressure-sensitive glove could be used to standardize the force applied in the equine distal forelimb flexion test. Three experienced veterinary surgeons and three final-ye...

A 16-year-old Italian Saddle Horse gelding was referred for treatment of an incisional hernia that developed 7 months after a ventral midline laparotomy for treatment of acute abdominal pain. Physical examination revealed a hernia approximately 20 cm long and 15 cm wide on the ventral aspect of the abdomen. Ultrasonography revealed the dimensions o...

Reasons for performing study: In equine castration, application of a ligature on the spermatic cord to prevent complications such as haemorrhage and evisceration has been reported with controversial results. Characteristics of commonly used knots have not been studied. Objectives: To compare the modified transfixing and giant knots and the emasc...

Introduction Pelvic flexure enterotomy is one of the most common procedure performed in abdominal surgery of the horse. In a survey on the method for pelvic flexure enterotomy closure employed by ECVS and ACVS Diplomates, resulted that 58.3% of surgeons adopt measures to reduce contamination during closure of enterotomies. The most popular measure...

Introduction Pelvic flexure enterotomy are commonly performed in horses. Although it is a relatively straightforward surgery several complication may arise, some of them even fatal.In literature the technique to close the pelvic flexure enterotomy seems somehow standardized to a double layer handsewn pattern.We hypothesized that boarded veterinary...

Introduction Pelvic flexure enterotomy is one of the most common procedure performed in abdominal surgery of the horse. In a survey on the method for pelvic flexure enterotomy closure employed by ECVS and ACVS Diplomates, resulted that 58.3% of surgeons adopt measures to reduce contamination during closure of enterotomies. The most popular measure...

Introduction: Ventral and incisional hernias are common surgical problems in large animals. Ventral hernias may occur from midline or paramedian incision, trauma or for abomasal fistulization. Synthetic materials are used for the repair of abdominal wall defects, but some types carry a high risk of adhesions if placed intraperitoneally. In this wor...

Objective To compare 2 sutured techniques with a skin stapled technique for typhlotomy closure in bovines.Study DesignEx-vivo study.Sample PopulationBovine fresh cadaveric ceca (n = 27).Methods Typhlotomies (4 cm in length) were made on the cecal apex and closed with 1 of the following techniques: hand-sewn, 2-layer suture consisting of a continuou...

Video recording and photography during surgical procedures are useful in veterinary medicine for several reasons, including legal, educational, and archival purposes. Many systems are available, such as hand cameras, light-mounted cameras, and head cameras. We chose a reasonably priced head camera that is among the smallest video cameras available....

Background: There are limited reports of horses suffering from colic caused by foreign bodies. Horses are animals that carefully select the food before eating it. Among foreign bodies retrieved in horses, the most common are wooden splinters, while metal ones are less present (Farr et al, 2010; Lohman 2012). Even less frequent are cases of penetrat...

Background: Double layer suture pattern techniques are the most popular in equine surgery for end-to-end jejunojejunostomies, although recently single layer suture pattern techniques have been evaluated. Single layer techniques are faster to perform, produce less inflammation and bursting strength is not significantly different from a double-layer...