Abstract:
The mammary tumor is one of the most frequent neoplasms in domestic animals, and adult to
elderly intact female dogs constitute the group with the highest incidence of this pathology.
Surgical approach using mastectomy technique is considered the gold standard treatment for
these tumors in dogs. However, the synthesis step in this procedure, due to the time required
and energy expended, is still considered a challenging stage. Therefore, there is a growing
number of studies aimed at finding new safe and efficient approaches that reduce the dermal
closure time. The use of dermal staples is already a common practice in various surgical
procedures in animals and humans, but there are few reports on the use of this material for
dermal closure in dogs undergoing mastectomies. Given the above, the objective of this study
was to evaluate the feasibility of using surgical staples for the closure of mastectomy incisions
in dogs compared to dermal closure using nylon sutures. For this purpose, 50 female dogs
were divided into two groups: one group underwent dermal closure with nylon sutures (GF),
and the other group underwent dermal closure using surgical staples (GG). Surgical time, local
temperature, and wound healing characteristics were measured and evaluated, and the results
were recorded in an individual evaluation form. In addition, thermographic analysis of the
surgical scar was performed on a subset of the sample. Logistic regression and multivariate
linear regression analyses were used to compare the differences between the results obtained
for each technique, and the independent samples t-test allowed for the comparison of means
between surgical and dermal closure times. There were no statistical differences between the
two groups in terms of age, weight, incision size, body size, and reproductive status. The total
surgical time was shorter in the staple group (p = 0.011). The dermal closure time was 9.8
times shorter in the staple group compared to the suture group (p < 0.001). The average
temperature of the surgical wound was higher in the suture group (p < 0.001). The staple group
had a lower occurrence of wound alterations (p = 0.029) and a lower frequency of
inflammatory discharge (p = 0.013). The suture group showed a higher frequency of white
pixels (p = 0.032) and higher temperature in the surgical wound (p < 0.001). The use of
surgical staples was found to be safe and effective for mastectomy closure in female dogs, and
it represents an alternative to suture closure. Although it results in an increase in procedure
costs, the use of the material helps reduce the total surgical time and the frequency of
complications in the surgical wound, which in turn minimizes the possibility of additional
costs with postoperative care.
