Aural Hematoma

[cmsally]

My dog has floppy ears and developed an aural hematoma. Doesn't seem to have an underlying ear infection but probably scratched too hard a couple of times. We took her to the vet who performed what seems to be the normal surgery allowing it to drain for a few days.

However now the incision has healed up we seem to be back to fluid build up again. Not as big as before but definitely getting there.

What is the best plan of action, more surgery or wait for the fluids to be absorbed which apparently can lead to ear deformity !!

[bina]

boxers et al get them; some dogs get them from shaking thier head too hard too often; other sget them from infections from ticks etc causing scratching and secondary infections on the flap.

we did some kind of wierd surgery with buttons; the dog ws anesthesized and then the flap was drained and buttons were sewn on to the flap on both sides (large regular flat plastic buttons)so the ear was kept pressed flat. i used to have pics of several of our surgeries with boxers in buttons ... after a certain amount of time the vet would take out the stitches (or the owner would do it) and remove the buttons... partial success as we had patients that returned more then once for the button surgery, but they had really scarred ears and ear allergies/candida n the ear also... my own male boxer had ruined ears from the hematomas...

make sure there is no underlying cause to the ear shaking/scratching at the flaps.

as for the button surgery, not sure if this is wide spread or an israeli vet thing, try google to see if other vets do this?

if i have time i can try to ask my ex employer vet but it will take quite a bit of time as he is super busy now (lambing/kidding season).

bina

[isanbirder]

I had a Bangkaew which developed an aural haematoma. I took him to the Small Animals Hospital; at Chiangmai University. The vet gave him a general anaesthetic, cut the swelling open, drained out the blood/fluid, sewed it up, bandaged it tightly, and made him wear an Elizabethan collar for a week. At the end of the week, the collar and the bandage came off, the wound had already healed, and he had no further problems.

Apart from the fun(?) of keeping an Elizabethan collar on a Bangkaew, things couldn't have gone better.

[robblok]

I had a Bangkaew which developed an aural haematoma. I took him to the Small Animals Hospital; at Chiangmai University. The vet gave him a general anaesthetic, cut the swelling open, drained out the blood/fluid, sewed it up, bandaged it tightly, and made him wear an Elizabethan collar for a week. At the end of the week, the collar and the bandage came off, the wound had already healed, and he had no further problems.

Apart from the fun(?) of keeping an Elizabethan collar on a Bangkaew, things couldn't have gone better.

Are Bangkaew's so much different then ? I got two and they are my first dogs but they seem just like other dogs. I have had to put an collar like that on my dog once and he did not like it one bit. But i doubt any dog likes it.

[cmsally]

I had a Bangkaew which developed an aural haematoma. I took him to the Small Animals Hospital; at Chiangmai University. The vet gave him a general anaesthetic, cut the swelling open, drained out the blood/fluid, sewed it up, bandaged it tightly, and made him wear an Elizabethan collar for a week. At the end of the week, the collar and the bandage came off, the wound had already healed, and he had no further problems.

Apart from the fun(?) of keeping an Elizabethan collar on a Bangkaew, things couldn't have gone better.

OK Thanks for that. I'm in Chiang Mai so I will try there. The vet I went to a couple of weeks ago, didn't make a terribly large incision and it healed after about 3-4 days which was probably too soon.

Round 2 of ear puncture session! Definitely not for the faint hearted dog owner!

Do you know if they put a stent in for drainage?

[bina]

no stent. the whole point of the button method is to keep the ear flap pressured flat= the buttons are sewn on both sides pressing the ear flap on both sides = it looks really wierd, and it has to be kept on for a while, so u have a dog with buttons on his ears. no need for the collar as they dont seem to bother the dog and it presses the flap , so that fluids cant drain back under the skin. same as a pressure bandage on a large heomatoma... still trying to get hold of D. to ask him about that method. both french and american vets that i worked with used that method. problem is, that it does reoccur, some dogs seem more prone. nero's ear just looked horrible , sort of cabbaged up, but didnt seem to bother him.

we did the button deal using light general anasthesia, just actually sewing them on to the flap on both sides. removal was easier.

bina

found a rather (very ) graphic pdf article abou tthe methods including the button method... that is the method that i personally know and saw being used that seemed to be the most effective at least on the boxers and the dog de bordeaux that we treated...

http://www.bearscampnewfs.com/health/Waltham%20Center/Canine%20Aural%20Hematoma.pdf

[cmsally]

OK now I understand that makes sense; 2 buttons giving pressure to keep it flat. Thanks, I'll mention that to the vet.

[isanbirder]

I had a Bangkaew which developed an aural haematoma. I took him to the Small Animals Hospital; at Chiangmai University. The vet gave him a general anaesthetic, cut the swelling open, drained out the blood/fluid, sewed it up, bandaged it tightly, and made him wear an Elizabethan collar for a week. At the end of the week, the collar and the bandage came off, the wound had already healed, and he had no further problems.

Apart from the fun(?) of keeping an Elizabethan collar on a Bangkaew, things couldn't have gone better.

OK Thanks for that. I'm in Chiang Mai so I will try there. The vet I went to a couple of weeks ago, didn't make a terribly large incision and it healed after about 3-4 days which was probably too soon.

Round 2 of ear puncture session! Definitely not for the faint hearted dog owner!

Do you know if they put a stent in for drainage?

No, no stent. The dog didn't seem to mind. He staggered to his feet an hour or so later, and behaved normally during the week wearing the collar. I can't tell you what medication the vet put into the wound, though; he must have put something, I guess.

Now you've raised this topic, I shall be checking my toy poodle daily for a haematoma; he has large floppy "ears like errant wings" which flap madly when he races (not chases) motorbikes on the track across the paddies.

Edited March 7, 2011 by isanbirder

[isanbirder]

I had a Bangkaew which developed an aural haematoma. I took him to the Small Animals Hospital; at Chiangmai University. The vet gave him a general anaesthetic, cut the swelling open, drained out the blood/fluid, sewed it up, bandaged it tightly, and made him wear an Elizabethan collar for a week. At the end of the week, the collar and the bandage came off, the wound had already healed, and he had no further problems.

Apart from the fun(?) of keeping an Elizabethan collar on a Bangkaew, things couldn't have gone better.

Are Bangkaew's so much different then ? I got two and they are my first dogs but they seem just like other dogs. I have had to put an collar like that on my dog once and he did not like it one bit. But i doubt any dog likes it.

There was a thread a year or so ago about Bangkaews. Many people swear by them; the others swear at them. They are very self-willed, and can easily become aggressive. I had a love/hate relationship with mine. Read the thread to know what to look out for.