|
| |
Giant Schnauzer Dog with Perineal Hernia
Prado is a Giant Schnauzer Dog and since puppyhood he is our patient. Throughout 10 years of our acquaintance with his owners (and that's how old Prado is) we have heard lots of interesting adventures both of Prado and his owners. Prado's family is very nice and friendly and they always have a funny story to tell and to make as laugh even after the most stressful day in the surgery.
All those years Prado had either minor or short lasting medical problems. Last year he developed a minor health problem as well, but this time he needed a surgery. The problem was a tumour close to his anus which is benign in most cases. The worry for the owners was that the castration of the dog was recommended preventive measure so the dog would not develop same tumours again. The castration is not a major surgery but the problem was that Prado's owners desperately wanted the outspring of Prado. By castrating him all their hopes to get Prado's baby would be lost. Together we decided that we would just remove tumours, Prado's owners would try to find a girlfriend for him but if the tumours appear again we would castrate him straight away.
Last month the bride for Prado was finally found but at the same time tumours reappeared. We agreed that after the breeding procedure we would castrate Prado. Prado's bride Penelope is of a similar age as Prado, so she is not young dog as well. The mating didn't go smooth and at the end we performed the artificial insemination. We all still anxiously expect the results of Penelope's pregnancy tests which we will perform soon.
During the insemination process we discovered another health problem of Prado: he had a large swelling on the right side of his anus. After examining him we established a diagnosis of perineal hernia. The perineal hernia is a condition where muscles in perineal region (region around and under the anus) become weak. The organs of the pelvic cavity can then protrude throughout that weak muscular wall. When organs protrude, then this becomes a life-threatening condition. Perineal hernia is more commonly seen in male then in female dogs so it is thought that development of perineal hernia is closely connected with male sex hormones. When surgery for the perineal hernia is performed, castration of the dog is usually performed at the same time. Prado then had two serious conditions which needed a surgery so there was no more time to loose. We booked Prado for surgery as soon as the breeding procedure was finished.
The day of the surgery came and the owners unwillingly left Prado with us. For the first time there were no funny stories to be told, just serious and worried faces.
First we castrated Prado, then we surgically corrected the perineal hernia and finally we removed the tumours. For the surgical point of view the most challenging procedure was reparation of the perineal hernia. If this procedure is not performed professionally both serious complications and relapses are common. For the surgical correction we chose the method where the internal obturator muscle is lifted from the pelvic floor and then used to close the defect.
Surgical exposure of
perineal hernia | | 
lifting the internal
obturator muscle |
| | | |
Closure of the hernia | | 
Closed wound |
Prado recovered well after the surgery and he met his owners by wagging his tail. Seeing him bright and alert his relived owners made a new serial of jokes. Now we all just expect Penelope's news.
| |
|
 |
|
