This report describes oesophageal obstruction in camel due to trichobezoar. She camel of two-year-old presented to Veterinary Teaching Hospital, King Faisal University, with a history of inability to swallow and there was food and water regurgitation for one day before. Palpation revealed clear visible mass on neck region about 105 cm caudal to the head. Radiography and endoscopic examination revealed an oval-shaped foreign body embedded in the oesophageal lumen in the level distal third of neck. The foreign body was successfully removed using cervical esophagotomy under general anesthesia. Successful oesophagostomy revealed trichobezoar of 45 g weight and 85X75X42 mm volume. The trichobezoar removed from the oesophagus was the cause of oesophageal obstruction.
Background
Choke (oesophageal obstruction) is an important oesophageal disorder in large domestic animals. Published studies on choke in the dromedary camel (
Camelus dromedarius
) are few in number and deal with small number of cases.
Methods
Sixty‐four camels with choke were presented to the Veterinary Teaching Hospital, King Faisal University. History, breed, age, sex, duration of obstruction and clinical signs were recorded. The diagnosis was established using examination with a stomach tube, oesophageal radiography and endoscopy. Choke was managed either by using alligator forceps guided endoscope or by cervical oesophagotomy.
Results
Choke was recorded in camels less than 1 year old (84.38%) more than camels more than 1 year of age (15.62%) and complete obstruction more than partial. Most cases had obstruction involving the cervical oesophagus (96.87%). In the majority of obstructive masses, there were pieces of fabric (48.44%) and plastic bags (35.94%). Most obstructive masses were slightly radio‐opaque (62.5%). Surgical and non‐surgical managements were effective (91.3% and 94.44%, respectively) in resolving the choke.
Conclusions
Choke was most likely in animals less than 1 year of age with complete obstruction of the cervical oesophagus. Surgical and non‐surgical methods were effective in resolving the choke in the dromedary camels. It was not practical to use forceps extraction in all adult camels due to the limited length of the alligator forceps.
Four camels (Camelus dromedarius) presented to the Veterinary Teaching Hospital at King Faisal University with maxillary masses. On radiographs, the masses were multicystic and expanded the maxillary bone. The tumors were diagnosed by histopathologic examination as conventional ameloblastoma, two cases as intraosseous squamous cell carcinoma, and central odontogenic fibroma with ossification. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first report of ameloblastoma in a camel, the first detailed description of maxillary squamous cell carcinoma in camels, and the first report of central odontogenic fibroma in any animal species.
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