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Roko’s Emergency Care
After running through a field with lots of undergrowth, Roko’s carer noticed a wound actively bleeding on his chest. They immediately took Roko to his family vet, where the wound was examined, flushed, debrided and sutured under general anaesthetic. The vet discovered that the wound had gone all the way through the muscle into the chest cavity and a rib fracture, causing damage to the lung tissue.
Roko’s vet proceeded with surgery to close the defect in the muscle wall and place a wound drain. Towards the end of the surgery, Roko’s breathing became more laboured, and post-op X-rays showed a large pneumothorax (a collection of air within the thoracic cavity, compressing the lungs).
Pneumothorax – also known as air in the chest – can lead to lung collapse as the presence of air between the lungs and chest wall prevents the lungs from inflating normally.
Despite draining over 1.7 litres of air, there was still air present in the chest cavity, leading to his referral to The Ralph’s Emergency and Critical Care (ECC) team for ongoing care.
Our ECC team confirmed that Roko was still suffering from a pneumothorax upon his arrival. Further X-rays also confirmed that Roko had fractured a rib, causing some contusions to his lungs. The team proceeded to drain the pneumothorax, but Roko became dependent on oxygen therapy and received round-the-clock care in our Intensive Care Unit (ICU). A CT scan was then necessary to investigate Roko’s condition further, which confirmed the extensive damage to Roko’s thorax, and he had drains placed in his chest to enable our team to empty any other air that filled his chest.
A repeat CT scan four days later showed that his pneumothorax was stable, but unfortunately, his initial surgical site had broken down, so he underwent revision surgery with our soft tissue surgery and anaesthesia teams. Roko spent a few more days in our ICU after surgery before being discharged to his carers.
We have since heard the following from his carers: “Roko is doing really well. Recovery is going really well, still limited to short walks but antibiotics and paracetamol have finished. He is just on some anti-inflammatory meds now to help with his sore ribs, which has reduced the limping hugely.”
Roko won the hearts of many at The Ralph, and we are thrilled to hear that he is recovering well. Take a look at these adorable pictures of Roko recuperating at home…
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Take care,
Team Ralph 🐾