Major Recovery Surgery

A surgical intervention that penetrates a body cavity (i.e. cranial, thoracic, abdominal, synovial, pelvic, ocular or orbital, skeletal, joint or bone marrow), involves extensive tissue dissection or transection, or has the potential for producing a substantial impairment of a physical or physiological function.

Examples of major survival surgeries include:

• Tendon/ligament repair or injury
• Ovariohysterectomy
• All --otomies (e.g., lararotomy, tracheotomy) and --ectomies
• -Oscopies that involve incision (e.g., laparascopy)
• Implantation of central devices
• Amputation
• Enucleation
• Eye surgery involving corneal incision
• Central cannulation (central approach)
• Musculoskeletal system repair, injury, or biopsy
• Extensive tissue dissection/transection (e.g., nerve or muscle cut-down)

Some surgeries may be classified as major or minor depending on various factors, and may be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

• Factors that can influence the classification may include the duration of anesthesia, size and location of the incisions, amount of tissue dissection and characteristics of the animal to undergo surgery.