A bright sunshine day. The Maltese had survived day 6 of the surgery and should be OK. So she was going home.
VETERINARY SURGERY TO REMOVE A CHICKEN BONE BETWEEN THE OESOPHAGUS AND THE STOMACH
This was a rare case of a chicken humurus bone trapped between the gullet and the stomach. Neither here nor there. I mean, if it was in the stomach it would be an easy surgery. But it was 3/4 in the gullet and 1/4 in the stomach as shown in the X-ray taken by Vet 1.
The major problem was before induction of anaesthesia. The dog had already vomited twice over 40 ml of white bubbly saliva onto the consultation table. Frothy white saliva covered the front of the epiglottis - obstructing any view of the epiglottis opening. So this was a difficulty airway and aspiration risk case. No intubation should be done as the opening of the epiglottis was masked by foamy white saliva.
Should I use injectable anaesthetic? Well, if this old dog did not have heart disease, topping up injectable anaesthetics should do. But gas anaesthesia is the safest method in old dogs with heart disease. I had never done surgery using topping up of injectable anaesthesia as I feel that this was not the safest way to do it. Yet, in this situation, there seems to be no choice.
