What muscle inserts on the linea alba?
external abdominal oblique muscle (via the rectus sheath)
In the average adult canine, the linea alba is about how wide and thick at the cranial location (just caudal to the xyphoid)?
about a cm wide and a mm thick
In the average adult canine, the linea alba is about how wide and thick at the caudal location (just cranial to the pelvis)?
about 1mm wide and much thicker
What layers do you cut through/can see when doing a median incision?
- skin
- SQ
- linea alba
- peritoneum
What layers do you cut through/can see when doing a paramedian incision?
- skin
- SQ
- external rectus sheath
- abdominal muscles
- internal rectus sheath
- peritoneum
When incising skin, you stretch the skin in which direction to the incision and with what hand?
- perpendicular to the incision
- with non dominant hand
When incising skin, you make one long smooth cut through skin only in which direction?
from non-dominant to dominant (cranial to caudal)
When incising skin, what grip should you use on scalpel?
slide grip
When incising skin, you want to go full thickness of the skin in how many passes?
one
When incising SQ tissue, do we use sharp dissection or blunt?
sharp
When incising SQ, how do we cut through it?
may use a few shallow cuts depending on thickness
In a live patient, you can finish incising the SQ tissue with a small amount of blunt dissection to facilitate visualization of what?
linea alba
Why do we want to limit the amount of blunt dissection used when incising SQ tissue?
potential for tissue trauma
Describe how to perform a reverse stab incision.
- pick up abdominal wall with thumb forceps
- turn scalpel so that the blade faces up
- hold handle using slide grip
- push blade through tented abdominal wall at a shallow angle
Explain how to extend a stab incision using forceps and a scalpel.
- make stab incision cranially
- palm thumb forceps
- put tips of forceps into abdominal cavity
- point tips of forceps caudally
- lift up on forceps to draw abdominal wall away from organs
- using forceps to protect scalpel blade, move forceps and scalepl blade together along incision to “unzip” the abdomen in one smooth motion
When using forceps and a scalpel to extend a stab incision, where do you want to start the stab incision?
cranially
Explain how to extend a stab incision with scissors.
- make stab incision caudally
- insert blunt scissors into the abdomen and lift up to draw abdominal wall away from organs
- extend incision with scissor in one smooth cut
- do not snip scissors fully closed but use just open and close center portion of blade to cut
When using scissors to extend a stab incision, where do you want to make the stab incision?
caudally
How strong a closure depends on what?
- how strong the sutures are
- how strong the tissue holding the suture is
What is the “holding layer”?
the tissue layer with the strength to hold sutures and keep the incision closed even when under stress
What is our abdominal closure holding layer?
external rectus sheath
Does including abdominal wall musculature in our body wall closure improve strength?
No, but it does increase pain (avoid it!)
What suture pattern do we use to close body walls?
simple interrupted
What spacing and bite depth should you use for simple interrupted sutures closing the body wall?
5mm spacing, 5mm bite depth from cut edge
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Intro to Microscopy11
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Medical Record16
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Psychomotor and Hand Ties27
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Small Animal Handling54
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Equine Handling and PE223
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Bovine Handling and PE55
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Canine PE112
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LA Injections and Phlebotomy143
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Ligatures 1 and 29
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Suturing 18
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Bovine Regulatory Tasks40
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Ultrasound38
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Isolation Procedures and Open Gloving10
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Small Animal Injections62
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Bovine Palpation6
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Laparotomy30
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Large Animal IVC38
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Small Animal IVC36
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Hematology16
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Clamping and Ligating37
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Body Wall Closure12
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SQ Closure10
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Skin Closure10
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Diagnostic Lab29
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Urinalysis8
