4. Internship. Enucleation of Winter White Dwarf Hamster

Surgical procedure:

1.       The hamster was gassed with Isoflurane in a small container for approximately 10 seconds until its body was limp.

2.       First we must incise 4mm of the lateral canthus so that we can have adequate exposure of the internal structure of the eye

3.       Then we can clamp the optic nerve stalk with the smallest forceps, however it is not possible to ligate the stalk because it is way too small.

4.       Next, is to incise the optic nerve stalk. Some bleeding may be expected after the incision however it will clot soon because the vessels are tiny.

5.       Then, we have to trim the upper and lower eyelids so that the skin will heal when opposed together. If these eyelids were not cut then the skin will not close even when stitched together.

6.       Lastly is to close up the wound using 6/0 absorbable suture.

7.       The whole eye enucleation procedure should take less than 1 minute because the anaesthetic effect wears off very fast in small animals especially when using gas anaesthesia.

8.       Clean the external of the wound and the surrounding fur that is stained.

9.       It is not possible to put E-collar on a hamster. So the best way to avoid self inflicted injury is to administer analgesic drug.

10.   This is because analgesic will provide comfort and the animal won’t feel irritated and pain. Thus, it will not scratch its eye.

NB: There is a simplified illustration of the procedure below.

Differences:

1.       No 360˚ paralimbal incision to remove eyeball from its socket.

2.       There is no ligation of the optic stalk below the clamp.

3.       Lots of bleeding controlled by stitching of eyelid.

4.       Excision of upper and lower eyelid to create fresh wound.

5.       Excision of extraocular muscle attachment.
6.   Removal of the third eyelid or nictitans membrane

Prepared by
Erica chai Hui Ling

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