Foreign Body Friday: Axel’s Story

Foreign Body Friday Episode 2

Axel is a 9-month old English Bulldog who presented to Dr. Brown on emergency one night for vomiting.  Dr. Brown performed a physical exam and decided to take x-rays.  He found a small wire in the colon along with a possible gastric foreign body in the stomach.  He was treated medically with the intention to perform a barium series the next morning.  Axel came back the next day for re-evaluation by Dr. Schlecker for the potential gastric foreign body.  Dr. Schlecker administered barium, a bright, contrast agent that we use to help determine flow through the GI tract and also to highlight foreign bodies.  In the first set of x-rays taken after the barium was administered, nothing obvious is seen.  However, we take x-rays every 15-30 minutes after the barium is given to see how things are moving.  At 1 hour and 15 minutes into the barium, a circular foreign body is evident on the x-ray in the stomach.  Based on these findings, Dr. Scott Morey performed an exploratory surgery.

After a complete exam of the entire abdominal cavity he only found foreign bodies in the stomach.  The stomach was exteriorized and packed off, an incision was made and multiple objects were removed, including a water bottle cap, which is what was seen in the x-rays.  The stomach was closed, the abdomen was flushed and Axel was treated medically following surgery.  Since we were also still concerned about the wire we found the night before, we took x-rays of Axel’s feces and were able to confirm that he passed the wire!

This case involved teamwork between 3 of our Doctors and a series of diagnostics to confirm that surgery was in fact indicated.  Kudos to Dr. Brown for sensing that something wasn’t right with his stomach in the original x-rays.  Axel recovered well and is doing great!

Fenton River Surgical Procedures

Our animal hospital provides the following surgical procedures at our hospital for small animals:

  • General Surgery:  General (or soft tissue) surgery is associated with the skin and tissue. Soft tissue surgery includes tumor removal, cystotomy, intestinal foreign body removal, splenectomy, C-section, spay/neuter, and more.
  • Orthopedic Surgery:  Surgery for a variety of orthopedic surgeries for various injuries and musculoskeletal conditions, including cruciate ligament surgery, meniscus repair, hip surgery (FHO), fracture repair, amputation, patella luxations, oral mandibulofacial surgery.
  • Dental Surgery: We perform some types of dental surgery such as tooth extraction, oral tumor removal, and fracture repair.
  • Ophthalmic (eye) surgery
  • Emergency Surgery: Typical emergency surgeries we perform are wound repair, laceration repair, and foreign object removal.
  • Biopsies

If you have any specific questions regarding our surgical procedures, please call us at 860-870-8701.

Fenton River Veterinary Hospital
9 Fieldstone Commons, Tolland, CT 06084
(860) 870-8701