Dorsally recumbent male equine urogenital endoscopic surgery.

Possibly no other development has revolutionized general surgery more dramatically than laparoscopic surgery in human patients. The development of instrumentation suitable for use in horses has allowed the veterinary surgeon to begin to introduce minimally invasive procedures. Clearly, in people, one of the greatest benefits is reduced patient morbidity and earlier return to function. The author's experience with laparoscopic procedures in the horse would tend to reinforce those observations. The most significant obstacle to widespread acceptance of minimally invasive surgery in the horse is possibly the veterinarian's reluctance to expend the funds necessary to purchase the necessary equipment as well as a hesitancy to abandon time-honored approaches to common surgical conditions. As a profession, veterinarians have been criticized for undervaluing their own services. Clearly, these new minimally invasive procedures can be successfully marketed if the advantages of the approaches in terms of patient well-being are impressed on the client.