Here’s a question for every veterinarian performing surgery:
Do you clip your patient’s fur on the same operating table where you’re about to perform a spay?
If yes, perhaps it’s time to reconsider your surgical workflow.
There is a reason veterinary hospitals designate a separate surgical preparation area.
It’s called infection prevention.
Dogs and cats carry microorganisms on their skin and fur. When we clip their hair, loose fur, dander, dirt, and other debris can contaminate the surrounding environment.
Now imagine doing all that inside the operating room, where sterile instruments are supposed to be protected from contamination.
You may have sterilized your surgical instruments, but what about the environment surrounding them?
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What should happen before surgery?
Ideally, surgical preparation follows a clean-to-cleaner workflow.
1. Preparation area
The patient undergoes anesthetic preparation, surgical clipping, loose hair removal, and preliminary antiseptic skin preparation.
2. Operating room
The prepared patient is transferred to a clean operating room for final aseptic skin preparation, sterile draping, and surgery.
3. Infection control
The operating room is maintained as a restricted environment, with unnecessary movement, loose hair, dust, and contamination minimized.
This separation helps reduce opportunities for surgical site contamination.
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But what if you have a small clinic?
Not every veterinary practice can afford a large hospital with multiple dedicated rooms.
However, limited space should not mean abandoning aseptic principles.
At minimum, establish a designated preparation area with a clear separation between dirty preparation activities and clean surgical procedures.
A separate enclosed prep room is preferable, but proper functional separation and infection-control protocols remain essential where space is limited.
Why does this matter?
Because surgical site infections are not merely postoperative inconveniences.
They can mean additional antibiotics, wound complications, longer hospitalization, repeat procedures, increased expenses, and unnecessary suffering for the patient.
And sometimes, those complications may have been preventable.
A successful surgery is not measured simply by how quickly you remove the uterus and ovaries.
It is also measured by how carefully you prevent complications before making the first incision.
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Remember this:
A surgical light does not make a room sterile.
A stainless steel table does not make a room sterile.
And wearing surgical scrubs does not automatically make a procedure aseptic.
Your surgical standards begin long before your scalpel touches the patient.
The operating room is where we perform surgery.
The preparation area is where we help make that surgery safer.
References
- World Veterinary Service Academy — Operating Environment and Surgical Principles.
- American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) — Surgery: Preparation of Patient Protocol.
- University of Saskatchewan, Western College of Veterinary Medicine — Surgical Site Preparation.
- Clinician’s Brief — Preoperative Surgical Site Preparation.
Supporting veterinary references: The World Veterinary Service Academy recommends a separate preparation area for anesthesia induction, clipping, and initial scrubbing. The AAHA describes initial preparation in a treatment area followed by final aseptic preparation in the surgical suite. WVS Academy
The University of Saskatchewan and Clinician’s Brief specifically recommend performing hair clipping outside the surgical suite to minimize contamination. wcvm.usask.ca
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Dr. Geoff Carullo is a Fellow and the current President of the Philippine College of Canine Practitioners.
