For Emergencies:
Meet the lovely Lula!
Lula was referred to our soft tissue team as an emergency, shortly after running onto a large stick while chasing after a pheasant. She had been stabilised by her primary care vet and arrived to us, correctly, with the stick still in place (removing penetrating foreign bodies outside of hospital is generally not advisable, as sudden bleeding or air leakage can occur).
Our team stabilised Lula further and then performed an urgent CT scan to assess the extent of her internal injuries. The stick had entered into her groin region, gone through the back of her tummy, into her pelvis, torn through her vagina and rectum, and passed out through her anus. It had somehow narrowly avoided tearing her bladder, urethra, and large blood vessels within her pelvis. The CT picture shows the location of the stick (red outline) which had passed between the main blood vessels into Lula’s back legs (yellow outline).
Lula’s CT image
Emergency surgery was performed by soft tissue specialist Mark and surgical clinician Becky, with our experienced team of soft tissue nurses and anaesthesia VTS Janette managing Lula’s complex anaesthetic. To access the stick for safe removal the team needed to explore Lula’s abdomen and temporarily remove the floor of her pelvis as well as the tendon attaching her tummy muscles onto the pelvis. After the stick was removed the rectum and vagina were surgically repaired, the tummy muscles were re-attached to the pelvis, and the pelvic floor was wired back into place. Lula recovered well from her anaesthetic and was hospitalised for extensive nursing care and medications.
Lula was discharged home two days after surgery to continue medications and strict rest. This was a little earlier than expected but the ward was not her favourite place to be! Her initial homecare was very demanding and her owners did a fantastic job of ensuring that all of her needs were met. She was back to see us for several recheck appointments over the weeks following surgery and, pleasingly, all of her internal repairs healed without complication. At her most recent check, around six weeks post-surgery, Lula was making excellent progress and her pelvis and muscle healing is reaching a point where she can start doing more exercise again.
Lula enjoying a well-deserved return to the outdoors after her remarkable recovery!
Lula’s long-term outlook is very positive and we are all thrilled to see her making big steps toward a return to normal life despite having suffered such a major trauma. Well done Lula!
