Duke, a 4 month male intact Labrador presented to our hospital due to swallowing an intact rib bone.The following is a summary of what happened to Duke once he entered our hospital.
The clients reported that they gave Duke a large rib bone and expected him to take it from them and chew on it.He actually took it from the client’s hand and completely swallowed the entire bone.He was not acting abnormal in any way but clients were concerned because it was so large. Other current medical issues: He had an injury to the left side of his neck from poking himself with a stick. He just completed a second course of antibiotics due to a three week bout of diarrhea.He was still on one antibiotic just in case he has coccidia.He is no longer having diarrhea. He has not completed his puppy vaccine series yet.
Duke’s physical exam was completely normal aside from a 5 mm puncture wound left side of neck with yellowish exudate.
While bone’s are not recommended for dogs or cats due to a variety of reasons (fractured teeth, infections, upset stomachs resulting in vomiting and/or diarrhea, pancreatitis, gastrointestinal obstruction or trauma), many dogs seem to be able digest the bones.Radiographs were recommended to at least see where the bone was.Surgery was not something that was even being considered at the time as Duke was acting completely normal and most bones are digested.The clients were worried and wanted us to monitor him overnight so they left Duke in our care. We conducted radiographs which revealed a VERY large bone.The client was contacted and after discussing options (wait and see what happens knowing that sometimes these bones can cause gastroenteritis or obstructions if they move down the gastrointestinal tract vs surgery) and the clients requested surgery. Duke was prepared for surgery: IV catheter placed and blood drawn for labwork to allow tailored balanced anesthesia.His comprehensive blood panel was normal. ANESTHESIA AND SURGERY: Duke was anesthetized with balanced anesthesia (premedicated, induced with an injectable anesthesia and maintained on gas anesthesia that he breathed through an endotracheal tube). Monitoring during procedure:blood pressure, continuous ECG (EKG), heart rate, respiratory rate, end tidal CO2, body temperature, pulse oximetery (blood oxygenation) His blood pressure was a bit lower than normal despite fluid boluses and decreasing his inhalant anesthesia so he was placed on medication to increase his pressures and this increased his pressures quickly.All of his other parameters were normal. Duke had a 12 cm incision made into his abdomen and his stomach exteriorized.Laparotomy sponges were placed to avoid possible abdominal contamination of stomach contents when incising.Stomach was incised and the bone removed easily.The stomach defect was sutured in two layers.Instruments and sterile surgical gloves were changed and patient’s abdomen was flushed and suctioned with sterile saline.His abdominal incision was closed in 3 layers (linea alba, subcutaneous layer and subcuticular layer).No skin sutures. His small puncture wound on his neck was explored and removed “en bloc” (in entirety) and sutured. During surgery, Duke bled a bit more than normal so post operatively he had a clotting function test conducted and was normal. Duke recovered from surgery uneventfully. Duke ate without vomiting the following day, was comfortable on oral pain medication so was sent home about 24 hours after he was hospitalized with us.While here he was on IV fluids, received injectable antibiotics, pain medication and pepcid AC.He was sent home on antibiotics and pain medication.He had to remain quiet for 14 days – no running, jumping or rough playing to make sure that his surgery site healed and did not dehisce.Duke made a rapid recovery and is doing well.
Recovered "treat"
Duke recovering comfortably
Atlantic Street Veterinary Hospital Pet Emergency Center 1100 Atlantic Street Roseville, Ca 95678
