Estudo comparativo entre três técnicas abertas de orquiectomia em gatos

Abstract

Background: Surgical sterilization of male cats is one of the most commonly procedures in the small animals practice, used as a control method against the overpopulation of domestic cats. Orchiectomy also aims to prevent or treat hormone-mediated diseases, disorders of the reproductive organs, such as testicular cancer, orchitis, prostatic diseases, trauma or abscesses. In addition, it may be used to control undesirable changes in behavior in adult cats such as the case of territorial marking and aggression. Several surgical techniques are described for orchiectomy in cats using different methods of hemostasis and/or ligation of the spermatic cord. There is a paucity of scientific studies and comparative data that supports one technique over the other, so this experiment was conducted to compare the three major open surgical techniques of ligation of the spermatic vessels to perform orchiectomy in cats. Materials, Methods & Results: Thirty-nine young entire adult male cats, with an average weight of 2.7 kg, were divided into three groups. In group I, animals underwent orchiectomy using the suture technique to ligation of the spermatic cord. In group II, the spermatic cord was used to perform an “eight-knot” on itself. In group III, the vas deferens and spermatic cord were used together to make “square-knots”. The outcome of surgical procedures was assessed by clinical examination, incidence of complications trans and postoperatively, duration of the procedure and ease of implementation. None of the animals had immediate or delayed bleeding after hemostasis. During surgery, there was no significant difference in procedure duration among the three different techniques. Postoperatively, the overall clinical evaluation was normal and there were no changes in behavior in any animal. It was noted a statistically significant difference in respiratory rate among groups, with the GI animals showing high frequency at the postoperative period when compared to animals from GII and GIII. There were no major complications in any of the techniques used and the parameters showed no significant difference among the groups. Discussion: The three most widely used techniques to perform orchiectomy in cats were evaluated in this study. Even though the respiratory rate has been shown to be statistically different among the groups, it was not a significant factor, because all other parameters were normal. These clinical data reflect the absence of major complications of surgery such as infection, pain, hypotension, hypovolemia or shock. In the current study, only adult cats were used and the structures of the spermatic cord showed strong and efficient ligation of testicular vessels with the techniques used. It was clinically observed that there was more edema in the group whose ligature employed was the suture technique. The catgut acts as a foreign body and interferes with the inflammatory reaction, the time of absorption and wound healing. The “eight-knot” technique is safe and effective, however, requires greater skill of the surgeon when compared to other techniques evaluated. The technique of “square-knot” resulted in less tissue manipulation without damaging the spermatic vessels, demonstrated by the absence of bleeding and minimal inflammatory reaction. This technique was effective, without complications postoperatively and easy to perform. These data suggest that the three techniques are considered easy and efficacious to perform orchiectomy in cats, but the technique of “square-knot” performed seems to be easier.