Gastrointestinal Surgery: Tips and Tricks for Difficult Small Animal Cases

Dr. Ellison is a native of Chicago and earned his DVM from the University of Illinois. He completed a small animal internship at South Shore Veterinary Associates in Weymouth, MA. He then practiced general small animal practice in San Francisco, CA. He completed a residency in small animal surgery and received an MS in surgery from Colorado State University. He is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons and practiced as a surgical specialist prior to joining the faculty of the University of Florida (UF). He has coordinated the laboratory surgical courses at UF for many years. He has served as a visiting professor at the University of Tennessee, Murdoch University, the University of Helsinki, Ross University, the University of Bristol, and Aristotle University. He is author or co-author on 112 refereed publications and principal investigator or co-investigator on 27 funded grants. His areas of interest include general and gastrointestinal surgery, urogenital surgery, wound care surgery, and minimally invasive procedures. He is a professor emeritus of small animal surgery at the UF. He continues to practice as a locum surgeon at practices and schools of veterinary medicine around the country.

Dr. Kaitlyn Mullen is a small animal surgery resident at the University of Florida. She graduated with her veterinary degree from Purdue University in 2018 and completed a small animal rotating internship at the University of Florida in 2019. She completed a master's degree in 2021 focused on evaluation of gastrointestinal microvascular health in dogs with foreign body obstructions, and has since expanded her research to include microvascular analysis of the stomach in dogs with GDV. She is primarily interested in soft tissue surgery, including intestinal anastomoses, surgical stapling devices, GDV, and wound management.

Dr. Regier is currently an assistant professor in small animal soft tissue surgery at the University of Florida (UF). She completed her DVM at Oklahoma State University, and thereafter completed a small animal rotating internship at Colorado State University (CSU). She subsequently stayed on to complete her master of science degree and small animal surgery residency at CSU. Dr. Regier became a Diplomate, American College of Veterinary Surgeons in 2018 and became an ACVS Fellow, Minimally Invasive Surgery (Soft Tissue Small Animal) in 2021. Her major research interest has focused on soft tissue surgery and primarily gastrointestinal surgery, tissue viability, and vascular blood flow. During her tenure as an assistant professor at UF, she has collaborated with various departments to improve not only the surgical management and treatment options for patients effected with surgical gastrointestinal disease, but also to create innovative ideas and expand the knowledge of various veterinary fields. She has completed review articles, retrospective studies, and several cadaveric studies evaluating different surgical techniques in the GI tract and different techniques used to assess tissue viability and microvascular blood flow, which have been both published or accepted in peer-review journals and presented at a number of conferences including ACVS and SVSTS.

Dr. Regier has also previously performed several studies evaluating suturing techniques and skin closures. She has been awarded extramural grants to perform clinical trials to assess microvasculature and intestinal viability in dogs with intestinal foreign body obstructions and GDV using novel techniques, which is currently underway. Her other research interests focus on soft tissue surgery including brachycephalic airway syndrome, laryngeal paralysis, MIS, and other aspects of gastrointestinal surgery.

Dr. Thieman is a soft tissue surgeon at Texas A&M University. She attended the University of Missouri for veterinary school, the University of Tennessee for a rotating internship, and the University of Florida for residency. She has interests in surgical site infections, respiratory diseases, wounds, and all aspects of soft tissue surgery.