Current NeedleView User: Dr. Mitch Robbins

From Biovision’s Views Newsletter, Issue 2, May 2015

Vet: Mitch Robbins, DVM, DACVS
Affiliation: Veterinary Specialty Center
Position: Director of Surgery and Anesthesia/Pain Management
Focus: Small/companion animals
Location: Buffalo Grove, IL
Contact: 
URL: http://www.vetspecialty.com

I was introduced to the NeedleView^® modality during a presentation at an ACVS meeting. The simplicity of the diagnostic arthroscopy tool drew my attention. Following the meeting, I contacted John [Small] regarding some basic questions about cost and usefulness of the needle arthroscope. John came out to visit Veterinary Specialty Center to demonstrate the unit to our surgical service. This was our first experience with NeedleView^®. When our six surgeons observed the efficiency of use compared to traditional arthroscopy, we decided to purchase the unit to use for our clinical cases.

My hope for the NeedleView^® modality was that it would provide us a resource for the rapid evaluation of joints arthroscopically. Disorders such as elbow fragmented medial coronoid process, medial shoulder instability, cranial cruciate and meniscal injury can be frustrating and expensive to rule in and out of our differential diagnosis list. We were hoping that by increasing efficiency and decreasing time, we could provide superior diagnostics for a lower cost.

Veterinary Specialty Center is always looking towards innovation and technology to help us provide extraordinary care to our patients and their families. The NeedleView^® is an excellent tool in this tool box.

The scope is very useful in our practice. We can perform diagnostic arthroscopy on a multitude of patients with ease and efficiency. Our expectations certainly have been met. I use the scope an average of one time per day for all of the above techniques. We also own the attachment and the insufflator that allows us to use our regular scope for laparoscopy, thoracoscopy, and therapeutic arthroscopy [Editor’s note – Dr. Robbins is referring to the SurgAssist Insufflator and Electrosurgical Generator, which together with the SurgView Xenon Imaging System included as part of the NeedleView^® Arthroscope Suite, can be used with an operating laparoscope for single-port laparoscopic and laparoscopic-assisted procedures].

Key benefit(s) of the NeedleView^® modality: Simplicity of use and small size are very big advantages. The other is that the scope is very durable.

For what practitioner/practice is NeedleView^® best suited? I think the NeedleView^® scope has more value for busy specialty practices than for general practitioners.