Portal de Pesquisa da BVS Veterinária

Acta sci. vet. (Impr.); 40(3): Pub. 1065, 2012. ilus

Artigo em Português | VETINDEX | ID: biblio-1373722

Resumo

Background: The use of animals in attempt to understand biological processes began many years ago with Hippocrates (450 B.C.). Galeno (129-210 a.C.) studied the anatomy and physiology of the monkeys, believing in their similarity to humans. The use of animals in experiments has always been the target of too much criticism by several society segments, questioning animal suffering after manipulation. This is due to the fact that students and professors consider that such practices are against their moral and ethical principles, besides the psychological issues that they can promote. Because of this, alternative and complementary methods were developed for surgical training and motor development of surgeons, with the goal to reduce the number of animals in these practices and to increase qualification and surgical skills. The objective of this study is to offer a complementary method of learning in the area of surgery, specifically anatomical techniques as a complementary method for learning nephrotomy. Materials, Methods & Results: Four dog kidneys were used from the pathology sector of the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul. The kidneys were removed from the abdominal cavity with the perirenal fat, blood vessels and ureter. The renal artery, renal vein and ureter were cannulated and filled with red, blue and yellow colored latex, respectively. After this, the kidneys were immersed for one hour in running water for latex polymerization. Then, the nephrotomy technique was performed. At each step of the technique, renal structures were observed, incised in a clean and easy way, and each one identified perfectly by color. Discussion: The use of animals in practical classes is still a rule in the most of brazilian universities. Several studies have observed that the teaching of practices, based on alternative techniques instead of vivisection, enabled students to equal or more learning. Virtual reality techniques, handmade devices for training surgical nodes, models for anatomical and physiological study of the ocular and circulatory systems, objects for the practice of venous puncture, artifi cial limbs for surgical practice, models for the practice of microsurgery in small vessels, cylinder with several layers the simulates in every detail a surgical procedure, mannequins, simulators, videos and the use of cadavers and viscera chemically prepared for learning surgical techniques are some of the alternative methods found nowadays. Since it is expected that veterinary medicine students experience real patients, the combination of their acquired knowledge to the practice of complementary methods, helps the student to better understand the technique and facilitates the learning process. When using viscera to help in veterinary surgical technique classes, the students participate more effectively in the classroom, without the stress and fear they face when they first practice with live animals. Furthermore, this alternative allows them to train many times every technique, refining the accuracy, coordination and manual skills, so important for a surgeon. The use of colored latex injected kidneys to simulate nephrotomy proved to be an effective method to complement the training of future surgeons, without loosing teaching quality neither using animals for this purpose.

Biblioteca responsável: BR68.1