Seratoma - Post Surgery Swelling

[Ashanali]

I'm posting this for two reasons.

The first is that I had to google over the weekend to find out if what I was dealing with was urgent or not. DOL comes up as a resource for most dog related questions on the internet but there was only a vague talk about seratomas in a thread and it didn't help me much... so I had to do more googling.

The second reason is that the video is gross and some people like that. However it's also intersting (aside from the gross factor)

So what's the story?

Three weeks ago Kayo had a litter of pups then two weeks ago she tried to jump out of the window and ended up hanging from the window bolt by the skin on her back leg. It tok a little over an hour and a couple of hundred stitches to fix her up but the vet couldn't add a compression bandage because of the position of the wound and her need to feed puppies.

Her healing was going very well until the weekend when her leg suddenly ballooned as it was filling with fluid. I googled to find out if it was something that needed to be dealt with urgently or if it could wait for the vet who was treating her. All sources that I eventually found said that if it's a small amount of fluid it could be treated with heat packs and compression however a large amount of fluid needs to be drained. It's only urgent if the subject is showing signs of infection. Kayo had no signs of infection and was perfectly happy, so we waited until we could see the vet who treated her initially.

The suggestion is that the internal stitches dissolved faster than her skin healed and it left an open pocket internally that she has probably bumped and this has started the swelling.

A seratoma usually occurs when gravity forces fluid to a pocket lower than the surgery site and there is no drain in place to allow the fluid to escape the body. It is often seen in amputees post-surgery.

So here is a gross video showing Kayo's seratoma being drained, it starts with the vet trying to make a hole with the scalpel rather than slicing as he wanted to avoid having to put another stitch into her. *she has had a local anaesthetic before filming started*

[~SL~]

Superb camera work their Ashanali So much fluid, just didn't seem like it was going to stop.

Bet that fulfilled all Warls best fantasies

[Stitch]

Gross but strangely fascinating to watch!!!

Edited to add: Love the scientific & exacting way the vet attacks the problem!!

Edited June 1, 2010 by STITCH

[Bundyburger]

It's like he's milking a cow..

I think I feel a bit sick after watching that

I bet the area would've been tender after the anaesthetic wore off

Edited June 1, 2010 by Bundy's Mum

[yellowgirl]

Kayo was such a good girl! She's really had a rough few weeks poor thing.

Thanks for posting the video, very interesting.

Did the lump feel soft and pliable before it was drained, or was it hard? You said Kayo had no signs of infection ... so no temperature, eating okay, etc?

My Banshee has a tummy bump (http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?showtopic=196843), so I'm interested in other people's lump/bump experiences. . We're going to the vet again Friday.

Hope Kayo recovers okay. She really needs to try not to get into any more trouble for a while. Give her a kiss for me and tell her to rest and get better soon

[Ashanali]

It felt like fluid and when it was pressed it moved around. There was no hardness. Kayo had no temperature and was eating like a pig the whole time. The only change was the sudden appearance of the lump.

[Miss B]

That's awesome. But I love gross stuff