Surgical removal of neck tumor in dog- A case study

Dr.Munish Julka   Rural Veterinary Officer  Civil veterinary hospital Saroopwali,

Introduction

    Canine tumors can present in a wide variety of different areas on a dog, just as with humans. Some tumor locations are more common than others, including cancer of the mouth and tumors on the face or neck. Cancer tumors can also develop inside the nose or throat. Some tumors in a dog's neck and face are completely harmless and benign, while others are malignant and in danger of spreading (Nelson).                                                                                                    

Case description

 A 2-year-old dog was presented with a history of mass at neck that became large within 2-3 months. On physical examination by palpation revealed tenderness of mass. With the consent of owner it was decided to surgically remove the mass from the neck.    
                   

                                                                            fig.1

                                                                             fig.2

                                                                            fig.3

                                                                          fig.4

Surgical procedure        

After a routine pre-operative fasting, general anaesthesia was given to the animal by injecting atropine sulphate @0.04 mg/kg b.wt S/C, 2ml dexamethasone I/M, xylazine @2 mg /kg b.wt and ketamine @10 mg/kg b.wt was given intramusculary. Surgical site was aseptically prepared (Fig 1), a large incision was made and a large mass connected with the neck was identified. The tumorous mass was excised from the neck. The mass (Fig 2) was kept for histopathological examination. The muscular layer was sutured and finally the skin was sutured with silk thread (Fig 3). Animal was recovered from anaesthesia after 45 mins.
                                          Post operative treatment with Inj. ceftriaxone-500mg b.i.d, Inj-meloxicam-2ml, Inj-b-complex-2 ml was given for 5 days. No complications were observed at operation and over ten days postoperatively. Sutures were removed after ten days of surgery. Animal starts normal feeding within 2 days from the surgery. The dog was reassessed at two months after surgery.  

Discussion and Conclusions

Some animals have a genetic susceptibility to certain diseases, particularly tumour (Baldwin, 1992). A successful recovery in the short term was observed following surgery. No metastasis of tumour tissue was observed over the next two months post surgery. Surgery has long been considered as the primary option for the vast majority of solid tumors.