Subcutaneous emphysema? dog attack

MiniMilton

MiniMilton

Well-Known Member
Joined
31 March 2013
Messages
980
Location
Ireland
Visit site
My little JR cross got attacked by another dog tonight. About 8 puncture wounds. Initially it looked bad as one in her armpit was bleeding heavily. Took her to emergency vet hospital (not my normal vet as out of hours)
By the time she got to the hospital the bleeding had stopped and she had licked off most of the blood so it didn't look so bad.

They sedated her, clipped her, and stitched and stapled her. 2 of the wounds on her back (which looked the least worrying of all of them) turn out to be the worst. They have caused air under her skin and they have drains put in them. The dog is very uncomfortable and won't lie down. She is sitting over a hot water bottle shivering wrapped in a blanket. I have to bring her back to my own vet tomorrow to get the drains removed. Any experience of this type of injury and how long until she feels comfortable again? I hate to see her in so much pain, hence why I can't sleep!

Or is it just the drains making her so sore? She's all bandaged up so l can't see anything. Hospital vet warned that wounds could degenerate. Does that just mean get infected or get worse?
 
A friend has just experienced SE in her horse following a kick. This was on the leg. Pain has not been a big issue connected to it so I imagine the drains are possibly causing some discomfort.

With the degeneration I would think that infection is one issue. Another may be that, especially with air under the skin, the blood supply to som eof the skin may be compromised and the skin may die away rather than knitting back together.
 
I have seen one quite bad case of this. The skin has basically been torn away from the muscle, hence creating the air pockets, and will be very painful. I wouldn't have thought the presence of drains will cause the pain.

These sorts of wounds can break down, the vet probably means that there could be a chance the skin may die. The very bad case I saw (with air pockets about 5cm x 5cm) healed very well with no incidence of breakdown. But just something to keep an eye on.

Has the vet given you any painkillers?
 
the drains are to reduce the amount of air and serum from the wounds building up under the skin, this reduces the chances of wound breakdown and further infection.they should not be that painful, but may be slightly uncomfortable. its more likely shes feeling the after effects of the sedation and a has a degree of shock from the fight and wounds.

any dog having these injuries will have been given painkillers by the vets on site as a matter of course. but your own vets will likely give you more tomorrow if you didnt receive any last night for the next few days.

by wound degeneration they likely ment that the skin and wound edges may die away as they have lost blood supply and cannot heal. infection is also a risk.drains etc reduces the chances of this but its very common for dog bite wounds to go nasty.

poor pet! hope shes feeling a bit better this morning!
 
Thanks for the replies. Had a good chat with my vet. The drains will stay in as long as stuff keeps coming out. She needs her dressings changed again in 2 days.
As you said, the flesh inside the air pockets could die off. If this happens then larger wounds could rupture much bigger and require surgery. Hopefully the antibiotics stop any major infection. The vet has given me painkillers to give her so that'll take the edge off the soreness.

Its a real eye opener. Once she had licked the blood off the wounds it didn't look that bad. If I had found her after she had cleaned herself up I probably wouldn't have rushed to the frightfully expensive veterinary hospital during the night. Its only when she was shaved that the extent of her injuries became apparent. She has countless stitches and staples. And its so upsetting that a dog she has lived happily with for 10 years did this
 
I know this is a ten year old thread, but maybe we don’t need two on SE?!

Lurcher this morning has a crackly top to his skull. He has no injuries that I can find and I wouldn’t expect to find any on him, he is very short coated and is our only house dog. He seems the same as normal in himself, is eating, drinking, poo, wee etc all as normal.

I’m thinking watch and wait unless anything changes, but would appreciate other info or experiences?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top