An uncommon localisation of a vegetal foreign body in a dog: a case report

Abstract

ABSTRACT:The goal of this study was to describe the ultrasonographic and computed tomographic appearance of a penile foreign body in a dog for the first time. We describe an unusual penile localisation of a grass seed awn in an 11-year-old mixed-breed dog referred for a computed tomography study after a severe haemorrhage from the penis. A fistulous tract was observed after plain and post-contrast whole-body computed tomography acquisition; the foreign body was localised with ultrasound and removed under ultrasonographic guidance, with the complete healing of the penile lesion. Grass awns are common foreign bodies in dogs and cats and are commonly localised in the ear canal, subcutaneous tissue, interdigital space, eyelid, conjunctiva and nasal or oral cavity. These foreign bodies pose a threat due to their peculiar structure, which facilitates their easy access to the affected area and their transit through the body. Clinical signs are often non-specific, and imaging modalities such as ultrasonography and computed tomography are useful techniques for localisation. Our report demonstrates that the combination of computed tomography and ultrasound techniques was crucial for the exact localisation and mini-invasive retrieval of the grass seed.

Bacterial infective stifle arthritis secondary to a migrating grass seed foreign body in an adult dog

“…13,14 Grass seeds foreign bodies have been reported as causing disease in a number of diverse anatomical locations including the thorax, nasal cavity, ear, head, neck, penis, vagina, spine, shoulder and epidural space. 1,4,9,15,16 To the authors' knowledge, this is the first report of a grass seed migrating to the stifle.…”

“…17 In a published case of a penile grass seed, a similar tract, hypoattenuating and with irregular walls, was found in the left cavernous body of the penis, at the level of the caudal border of the os penis. 15 The tract in that case was also first been identified using CT. A study of CT findings in grass seed foreign body cases concluded that CT was most useful for localising secondary lesions rather than definitively diagnosing a grass seed. 4 These conclusions are consistent with this case, where the tubular tract from the grass seed migration was identified on CT, but the seed itself was not.…”

Penile Foreign Bodies in Dogs: A Retrospective Study

“…An uncommon cause of hemorrhagic preputial discharge is represented by the penetration of a foreign body into the foreskin or the connective tissue surrounding the penis [5,6], a condition which, according to the above mentioned hospital data of the last ten years, was approximately 2% of all cases of the hematuria or hemorrhagic preputial discharge in males.…”

“…A more complex diagnosis is represented by hematuria due to a foreign body embedded in the subcutaneous penile tissue [5]. It often represents a diagnostic challenge due to both the rarity of the event and to the frequent tendency, in the veterinary fi eld, not to carry out a sonographic exam of the penis during a routine urologic ultrasound procedure.…”

“…Due to the infrequent reports of clinical cases regarding hemorrhagic discharge caused by penile foreign bodies [5][6][7], the aim of this report was to carry out a retrospective study by analyzing the hospital database of the last ten years (from 2009 to 2018) (Fenice 4.0, ZakSoft srl, Bologna -Italy). Case reports of male dogs presenting hematuria or serohemorrhagic preputial discharge were selected in order to identify the clinical cases caused by the presence of foreign bodies migrating from the foreskin or urethra, and embedded in the subcutaneous penile tissue or in deeper inguinal tissues.…”