Search

The purpose of the present study was to characterize the surgical methods researchers use to implant telemetry transmitters in fish and obtain their opinions on fish surgical techniques. The majority of respondents (74%) use monofilament suture to close transmitter incisions, mirroring recent findings that monofilament can help reduce tissue inflammation and promote wound healing. An equal number also believe that maintaining sterile equipment between surgeries is important to preserve fish health. Despite the difficulty of maintaining sterile surgical equipment and surgery areas in field conditions, this opinion does coincide with those of veterinarians. Opinions about what component of surgery is the most hazardous for fish were mixed: 37% believed it to be the initial incision, closely followed by wound closure (23%), insertion of the transmitter and its components (22%), and anesthesia and the handling of the fish (18%). A large proportion (73%) of researchers practice at least occasionally t...

We investigated the effects of preparing surgical incision sites with a topical antiseptic on wound healing and hematological response in rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss. A povidone–iodine solution was applied both pre- and postsurgery to the incision sites on treated fish. Three-centimeter incisions in both treated (N = 9) and control (nontreated, N = 9) fish were closed with four nonabsorbable sutures sewn in a simple interrupted pattern. During the 42-d period of wound healing, there were no statistically significant changes in total erythrocyte counts (1.28 × 106/mm3 ± 0.05 SE), in percentage of dividing erythrocytes (0.76% ± 0.07 SE), or in differential leukocyte counts. Postmortem, pathogenic bacterial infections in the kidney or spleen were not detected in any of the fish. There was no histological difference between control and treated incisions to show either beneficial or adverse tissue reactions to the topical antiseptic treatments. Blinded histological analysis revealed both treated...