Thinking outside the shell

In June 2014, I had the opportunity to sit in on a case that was definitely not your everyday procedure. You see, Sue had a bladder stone. And while that may not be too out of the ordinary given my line of work, I should also mention that Sue is an African spurred tortoise at the Milwaukee County Zoo.

While this was an unexpected first for me, I came to find out that bladder stones are quite common in tortoises. Unfortunately, there aren’t many treatment options. Often, part of the lower shell has to be removed in order to access the bladder. Needless to say, this is very invasive.

The zoo staff wondered if it would be possible to use minimally invasive techniques to remove the stone, and they reached out to the Medical College of Wisconsin’s Urology Department for guidance. Many of the products for the procedure would be pulled from day-to-day urological stone cases, so Cook Medical was asked to assist as well. And that’s how I ended up at a zoo with a tortoise on the operating table.

The day of the procedure came and everyone was eager to get started, with maybe the exception of Sue herself. The medical staff, composed of academic veterinarians and the zoo’s doctor of veterinary medicine, sedated Sue prior to the procedure. As anticipated, several Cook products were incorporated to gain access during the procedure. The stone was visualized with a colonoscope and it was fragmented using a holmium laser. Slow and steady wins the race, and after two hours of lasing and flushing stone debris, Sue was stone free.

The procedure was a success and those involved have to be encouraged by the results. The academics have a case to study, the vets have a new, minimally invasive procedure to use, and Sue is back to doing the things tortoises do. As for me, I won’t soon forget this experience. It goes to show that you never know who (or what) will benefit from our products.

Sue The Tortoise