# Seahorse surgery



## Knight~Ryder (Dec 2, 2007)

A very unusual patient visited the Ryan Hospital on April 23. A six-inch, two-year-old female seahorse was brought to the Hospital by veterinarians from the National Aquarium in Baltimore. The seahorse had a pea-size growth on its pectoral fin, near the gills. “Last October we removed a mass by conventional surgery,” said Dr. Caryn Poll of the National Aquarium. “But the mass grew back and we are here to have it removed by laser surgery.” 
Chick Weisse, V’98, lecturer in surgery, enjoys working with marine animals and has performed numerous surgeries on fish. The little seahorse was his first patient of the Hippocampus variety.

The animal was anesthetized in water; it took about five minutes for it to become unconscious. Then it was removed from the water and placed on the table, and Dr. Poll carefully syringed water over the gills while Dr. Weisse used the tiny laser probe to remove the tumor. He then used the laser to ablate the tumor bed in the hope of removing any remaining cancer cells that could regrow. “Seahorses have a bony layer within the skin, called osteoderm, so one can’t just cut away the tumor without leaving a large defect,” said Dr. Weisse. “The laser removed the layer of cancer cells while sealing the blood vessels, nerves, and lymphatics.”

The surgery lasted only minutes, and that same day, the Hippocampus reidi was safely back in her tank at the National Aquarium, swimming around. In lay language she is called a longsnout seahorse, and her natural home is the Western Atlantic. 

Source: www.vet.upenn.edu/.../59/seahorse_surgery.html


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## PowerJuice (Mar 21, 2008)

is there realy a piont to posting this?


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## Knight~Ryder (Dec 2, 2007)

Is there really a point in making your 5th post a negative one?

I personally think it's quite neat how that can be done. I am hoping other people can share their experiences with thier fish, so we can all learn even more.

I love learning something new everyday.


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## PowerJuice (Mar 21, 2008)

whatever floats your boat...


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## Ice (Sep 25, 2006)

Wow ! That's cool ! It's always good to hear stuff like this. Interesting story.


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## sarahbellum (Feb 28, 2008)

This story is really cool. I'm glad they didn't just go "oh, it has a problem, let it go". They took the time and the money and saved a seahorse. 

Sometimes, I run across stuff on here where I'm like, "Really? You HAD to post that" but I don't make a negative comment. I just skip it when it pops up in the updates section. If you asked a question or a comment that someone who has more experience then said "DUH!" to, you wouldn't want them to go, "Why did you ask that? Thats a stupid question!".


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## CollegeReefer (Sep 1, 2006)

Very interesting thanks for posting!


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## Madam Macaw (Jan 29, 2008)

I agree. That is a very interesting post. Thank you.


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## flamingo (Nov 5, 2005)

I read this about a year ago, if that even, but it's still interesting... even more so since it's "just a common reidi." A common species you can easily 'replace' if needed.


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## Guest (Mar 28, 2008)

PowerJuice said:


> is there realy a piont to posting this?


For the interest of other members perhaps? Not sure what your problem is. :|


Very interesting. I always do enjoy reading articles like this.


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## PowerJuice (Mar 21, 2008)

sorry bad mood today my fiji puffer jumped out today and down the heater vent i cant reach him but i can just barely see him ughi even tryed using a long clamp like this hes doen there 5-7 feet >.> right before the vent turnes a different direction I CANT IMAGINE WHY ITS OPEN


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## trashion (Aug 24, 2007)

This sounds weird and he might not survive it BUT...try a vacuum cleaner with a narrow attachment. I heard of someone doing this with a hamster that went down the drain, and it was okay, it just got sucked up against the vacuum attachment. At any rate, it's probably dead by now :\ so your best bet is to get it OUT of the heating system.


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## PowerJuice (Mar 21, 2008)

actually i thought of the vaccum cleaner idea ( before you posted ) and i got him out alive ^_^ hes a little sickly right now ( not to much movement ) but im sure he' ll be fine... ( i hope ):fun:


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