John Houlton MA VetMB DVR DSAO MRCVS DECVS

John Houlton joined the Veterinary Defence Society as a Claims Consultant in 1997 having spent 22 years at the University of Cambridge. He has been Past President of the BVOA and AO/Vet International, is currently Past President of ESVOT and is President Elect of the ECVS. He has been an RCVS Specialist in Small Animal Orthopaedics since 1992.

This two-day practical course is designed to provide a solid grounding in how do deal with common orthopaedic problems and build confidence in surgical approaches and techniques. The combination of lectures and practical sessions will cover fracture repair, surgical approaches to the long bones and joints, and the surgical management of common articular problems.

Who should attend

Those who wish to perform routine arthrotomies of the shoulder, elbow, and stifle, or who wish to undertake fracture repair using pins, wires and bone plates. Previous experience is not essential and the emphasis will be on gaining confidence to perform routine orthopaedic procedures in the dog.

What the course will help the attendees to do 

• Handle tissues in a sympathetic manner
• Improve their knowledge of surgical anatomy
• Perform excision arthroplasties, deAngelis technique, cruciate repair, tibial crest transplantation, and surgery for osteochondrosis
• Apply cerclage and tension band wires correctly
• Use screws as lag, position, and plate screws
• Use bone plates and how to plan fracture repairs

Learning objectives

By the end of this course delegates should have a thorough understanding of:

• Key surgical approaches to bones and joints
• Fracture planning
• Fracture repair using pins, wire, screws and plates
• Osteochondrosis
• Cranial cruciate ligament disease and patellar luxation
• Hip and elbow dysplasia