Leaving a long suture tag on canine ovarian pedicle ligatures to facilitate ease of relocation in case of haemorrhage

Abstract

An approximately 6‐year‐old, obese, deep‐chested dog presented to a sterilisation clinic for a routine ovariohysterectomy surgery. Significant intraoperative haemorrhage was observed from one of the ligated ovarian arteries. Exploratory surgery was performed to locate the bleeding tissue and additional ligatures were placed. This took several minutes due to impairment of visualisation from blood and tissues. After re‐ligation of the bleeding tissue, haemorrhage ceased and the patient recovered uneventfully. A long suture tag was left on ovarian pedicle ligatures in subsequent canine ovariohysterectomy surgeries to help locate bleeding pedicles more quickly. This case report describes the use of long suture tags left on the ovarian pedicle during ovariohysterectomy, with details on the properties of the suture used, that allows for this technique to be safe and effective in expediting identification of the pedicle in case of haemorrhage.