Neutering your dog prevents unwanted pets and reduces aggressive behavior. Neutering also prevents prostate infection and cancer, and may improve the overall disposition of your dog. Which procedure is best for your dog: the traditional scalpel surgery or the newer laser surgery?
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Pain Level
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According to Petplace.com, the laser surgery is much less painful. The reason is that a laser beam actually seals off nerve endings, preventing the raw ends that are characteristic of scalpel surgery, causing your dog a great deal of pain.
Swelling Reduction
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Using a scalpel to make an incision in your pet causes inflammation of the affected skin and tissue, because of the interaction with the circulatory and lymphatic systems. With the use of the laser beam, the lymphatic system is effectively cauterized, with less post-operative swelling, making for a more comfortable and speedy recovery period.
Infection Control
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The heat from the laser beam vaporizes and kills bacteria that have the potential to cause an infection. In traditional scalpel surgery, the surgery area can easily be contaminated with bacteria.
Minimal Bleeding
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When a scalpel is used to make an incision, small blood vessels get cut in the skin and tissue. These blood vessels can ooze during and after surgery. This causes more of a chance for infection due to bacteria, more bleeding, blood clots and excessive swelling. The laser beam can effectively coagulate these small blood vessels, causing much less bleeding and swelling with no clots or infection.
Recovery
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Recovery time after scalpel surgery is more extensive, at least two weeks, and may require antibiotics and medications for pain and infection. Laser surgery recovery may take up to two weeks also, but with much less swelling and pain and a smaller incision with dissolvable sutures. Either surgery will require that you limit your dog's activities during recovery. It would be beneficial to use an Elizabethan collar on your dog to prevent licking and scratching at the incision site.
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