RESUMEN
CASE DESCRIPTION: 4 wild adult rat snakes (Pantherophis alleghaniensis) were evaluated after ingesting spherical or ovoid foreign bodies. CLINICAL FINDINGS: Physical examination revealed a large, firm mass at the level of the stomach in each snake. Radiographic findings were consistent with ingestion of a golf ball (3 snakes) or an artificial egg (1 snake). Signs consistent with prolonged impaction included scale loss, dermal abrasions, and apparent loss of body condition in one snake and regional skin ulceration, dehydration, and generalized muscle atrophy in another. TREATMENT AND OUTCOME: Nonsurgical removal of the foreign body was attempted in anesthetized or heavily sedated snakes by external manipulation in the orad direction. A golf ball was removed through the oral cavity without complications in 1 snake. In the other 3 snakes, tension caused by the advancing foreign body resulted in full-thickness skin rupture in the cervical region. The procedure was completed with the use of a balloon catheter to aid foreign body advancement for 1 of the 3 snakes, and the skin defect was closed. The procedure was converted to esophagotomy for the other 2 snakes. Three snakes recovered and were released; 1 died of complications from prolonged impaction and esophageal perforation. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The described nonsurgical techniques for removal of ingested round or ovoid foreign bodies were associated with substantial complications in 3 of 4 treated rat snakes. Although a nonsurgical method for removal of ingested objects such as golf balls could benefit snakes, the methods used for these patients did not appear to be more beneficial than traditional gastrotomy.
Asunto(s)
Colubridae , Cuerpos Extraños , Golf , Enfermedades de los Roedores , Animales , Cuerpos Extraños/cirugía , Cuerpos Extraños/veterinaria , Boca , Ratas , Serpientes , EstómagoRESUMEN
Herpetology specialists may find a rewarding model in production medicine, where patients are evaluated on a population basis in an ambulatory setting. Ambulatory medicine combines clinical advantages, such as being able to evaluate patients and their living conditions in situ, with the benefits of building close client relationships and tethering the growth of the business with that of an increasingly popular niche industry. Ambulatory medicine does present some logistical challenges when working with reptiles and amphibians, but they represent surmountable growing pains for the veterinarian committed to growing alongside the ever-evolving practice of reptile and amphibian medicine and surgery.
Asunto(s)
Anfibios , Animales Exóticos , Unidades Móviles de Salud , Pautas de la Práctica en Medicina , Reptiles , Medicina Veterinaria , Animales , HumanosRESUMEN
An adult male two-toed amphiuma (Amphiuma means) was evaluated for kyphosis and a self-inflicted ulcerative dermal lesion at the site of a midbody spinal deformity. Radiology revealed a proliferative bony lesion at the 39th vertebra. A dorsal laminectomy was performed to alleviate pressure on the spinal cord believed to be secondary to bone remodeling. Resolution of the scoliosis occurred at the surgical site, and the ulcerative lesion of the body wall healed. Three weeks postoperatively, the amphiuma resumed self-mutilation caudal to the surgery site. Euthanasia was elected. Necropsy revealed focal osteonecrosis and vertebral fractures at the laminectomy site with regionally extensive fibrosis, fibrin deposition, and focal spinal cord compression. Resolution of clinical signs suggests that surgical decompression of the spine was clinically successful short term, but the patient deteriorated for reasons possibly related, although not directly attributable, to the surgery.