General Information

Sawyer Surgical Solutions is a mobile veterinary surgery
provider working as a team member with your general practice.

The Process

Once a patient has been identified as a surgical candidate (orthopedic, oncologic, soft tissue, neurologic, etc), the clinician contacts Dr. Sawyer by emailing drsawyer@sawyersurgicalsolutions.com or by calling 727-355-5223.

In the email, please include signalment, reason for presentation, relevant history, records including bloodwork, and radiographs.  If this is an orthopedic case, sedated radiographs with appropriate limb positioning and a calibration tool need to be provided as well (please call if there is question on view and positioning).  A calibration tool will be provided on request.  Videos of gate from multiple angles can be helpful as well.

You will get a call to discuss scheduling for either consultation or surgery at all parties’ earliest convenience.

On the day of surgery, Dr. Sawyer will call the owner to introduce herself and answer any questions they may have.  Following surgery, she will call to update the owner and discuss discharge time.

Medications that are typically sent home with owners following surgery:

• *NSAID of choice or current one patient is on (if an injectable NSAID is typically given preoperatively, please discuss with Dr. Sawyer before administering) for 14 days
• *Gabapentin 15mg/kg TID for 10-14 days
• *Trazodone 5-8mg/kg BID to TID PRN
• *Cephalexin 22mg/kg BID for 5 days

Formal discharge instructions will be emailed for all patients, along with surgery reports and any examination or communication notes that should be added to records for completeness.  Often Dr. Sawyer does not use skin sutures, please follow up with the patient two weeks after surgery to ensure incision healing prior to allowing the owners to remove the e-collar.  If there is any question or concern with how the healing process is going, please reach out to Dr. Sawyer.  

Typical orthopedic procedures require postop radiographs/follow-up at 4 and/or 8 weeks, Please email these to Dr. Sawyer.  

We do not need to be present for postoperative follow-up appointments unless there is a problem with the healing process.  If the owner has concerns that your staff is not comfortable discussing or addressing, please contact Dr. Sawyer and a follow-up will be arranged.

 On the day of surgery:

Patients need to arrive to your hospital fasted.  Ideally surgery is performed in the morning, and starting no later than 2pm to allow discharge on the same day.  A surgical consent form is required preoperatively, and changes to your current consent to include potential complications on a case by case basis may be necessary.  Changes to consent forms can be discussed during initial discussion between Dr. Sawyer and clinician.  Dr. Sawyer will arrive with all instruments, equipment (including electrocautery and suction), implants, drapes, gowns, gloves, suture, nocita, epidural equipment, etc, we just ask that the patient has its IV catheter in place and premed/induction medications ready for our arrival to your hospital. 

We ask to utilize your operating room, a nurse for induction and initial monitoring of anesthesia, anesthesia machine and monitoring equipment, IV catheter, fluids and fluid lines, recovery area, radiology, and take home medications.  In addition to this, we request utilization of your controlled substances for anesthesia induction and maintenance.  Typical premedication protocol is Cerenia on arrival, hydromorphone and midazolam as premedication, and propofol or alfaxalone for induction.  Commonly used opioids used for orthopedic surgery include fentanyl, morphine, hydromorphone, methadone, and ketamine.  If you do not currently stock these medications we kindly request that you consider doing so for surgical patients given the invasive and outpatient nature of orthopedic surgery at your hospital.  Local blocks, epidurals, and Nocita will be utilized as much as possible.

If you have specific medications you would like to add to protocol, confirm with Dr. Sawyer before administering.  Additionally, some cases such as staphylectomy/sacculectomy for brachycephalic breeds we may add dexamethasone SP and change our opioid to Butorphanol.

Typical doses:  

• Hydro 0.1mg/kg
• Midaz 0.2mg/kg
• Propofol 5mg/kg
• Cefazolin 22mg/kg
• IV fluid rate intraoperatively 10ml/kg/hr dogs, 5ml/kg/hr cats UNLESS cardiac disease present

Dr. Sawyer is always available to review cases or radiographs for general guidance or opinions, so please don’t hesitate to reach out.  If the case seems a little more complicated, it may be recommended to schedule a consultation.

Consultation costs:

• Consultation (meets with or talks to owner via phone call) $200
• Recheck appointments: $100

Billing:
For any patient scheduled for surgery we ask that a $300 surgical deposit be taken which will be applied to the cost of surgery. On the day of surgery, the deposit that your hospital policy requires is appropriate. If a patient cancels after 24 hours preoperatively, the $300 will become a non-refundable no-show fee.

Sawyer Surgical Solutions will invoice each hospital for services, and each hospital will be responsible for collecting payment from the client.