Migration of retrobulbar wooden foreign body between diagnostic imaging and surgical extraction in a German shepherd dog

Abstract

A 2‐year‐old, male castrated German shepherd dog was presented to the University of Tennessee Veterinary Medical Center (UTVMC) with periorbital swelling and conjunctival mucopurulent discharge 2 days following removal of a twig from the medial canthus by the owner. Diagnostic imaging was pursued due to the suspicion of a retrobulbar foreign body (FB). A cylindrical FB approximately 3.0 cm in length and 1.0 cm in diameter with concentric rings, suspected to be wooden material, was identified on computed tomography (CT) imaging. An attempt to remove the FB via a stab incision using ultrasound guidance was unsuccessful, and postmanipulation ultrasound confirmed the FB position was unchanged. An exploratory orbitotomy was performed, using the acquired CT images for guidance in locating the FB; however, the FB was not present at the predicted site. The CT imaging was repeated and showed that the FB had migrated rostrally approximately 3.0 cm, compared to the originally acquired study and its same location during attempted ultrasound‐guided removal. A combination of CT‐guided needle placement and contrast injection was then used with repeat imaging in an attempt to better localize the FB and its soft tissue tract. The dog was taken back into the operating room, and the wooden FB was successfully removed.

Migrating grass awn within the intraconal part of the retrobulbar space in a dog

“…The most common localizations of grass awns are the external ear canals, interdigital spaces, eyes, thoracic cavity and iliopsoas muscles (Brennan & Ihrke 1983, Gnudi et al 2005, Schultz & Zwingenberger 2008, Caivano et al 2016. Surgical removal of a migrating foreign body is often a challenge, particularly in sites where surgical exposure involves delicate dissection, such as the retrobulbar space (Cherry et al 2019). The retrobulbar space may be affected by numerous diseases, that can include primary and secondary neoplasia, cellulitis, abscessation, myositis, diseases of the zygomatic salivary and lacrimal glands, trauma, foreign body (Betbeze 2015) which should be considered in pre-operative evaluation.…”

Removal of a retrobulbar wooden foreign body trapped in the orbital fissure by lateral orbitotomy and mandibular coronoidectomy in a French bulldog

“…FB removals described in veterinary literature are mostly localised lateral to the mandible, 5 7 and are seldom found medial to it. 8 However, coronoidectomy has never been reported for FB removal; it is generally performed for intraconal and lateral extraconal diseases such as tumours or salivary gland excision. 9 Moreover, retrobulbar FB in the area of optic nerve have been described in humans and are most of the time metallic.…”