We have had a lot of interesting cases this week. Two dogs presented to us in the past two days with life threatening sepsis as a consequence of uterine infection (pyometra) and both had to have emergency surgery. Both dogs are doing well. Elective ovariohysterectomy or ovarectomy (removal of the ovaries) at a young age prevents this condition and it’s one of the benefits of spaying.
We also saw a second opinion; where a dog had pyometra surgery at another clinic but subsequently had a purulent discharge some months later. This means that there is some ovarian tissue still in the body. We tried a long course of antibiotics; but it kept relapsing. There must have been some ovarian remnants left behind at surgery; or there can be extra ovarian tissue also (but this is rare).
We ran some blood tests; and we decided to perform exploratory surgery with the laparoscope. It’s like hunting for a needle in a haystack!! We opted for a technique that’s minimally invasive; and the least painful option for this lovely dog. We found a tiny sliver of suspicious tissue right at the suspensory ligament where the ovary should be.
This is a known complication of surgery; but it’s very unfortunate and it’s tricky to sort out. We are delighted to help; and to find this minuscule piece of tissue using magnification. We’ll send it for histopathology to confirm our findings. The doggy’s infection should rapidly resolve; and the exploratory surgical technique was keyhole which means she should have a rapid recovery; which helps when you had to have surgery twice!
