Penetrating palpebral grass awn in a dog

Abstract

An unusual case of a penetrating grass awn in an eyelid of a dog is reported. A 6-month-old mixed breed dog was referred to the Ophthalmology Unit of the Veterinary Teaching Hospital of Camerino University for anorexia, lethargy, left monolateral ocular swelling and pain to the left eye, present from 1 month. Ophthalmic examination of the left eye showed copious and purulent discharge, and ultrasonography revealed the presence of an abscess containing a grass foreign body. The grass awn was surgically removed. Three days after surgery, the dog showed a marked improvement, with a total resolution obtained in 7 days. To the authors' knowledge, penetrating foreign bodies such as the one of this paper have never been described before in literature.Keywords Dog Á Foreign body Á Grass awn Á Lid abscess Á Swollen eyelid Á Ultrasonography Riassunto Questo articolo descrive un particolare caso di corpo estraneo palpebrale di origine vegetale Un cane meticcio di sei mesi di età è stato riferito all'Unità di Oftalmologia dell'Ospedale Veterinario Didattico dell'Università di Camerino per la presenza di anoressia letargia e tumefazione oculare monolaterale sinistra associata a dolore presenti da un mese. L'esame oftalmologico dell'occhio sinistro ha messo in evidenza la presenza di abbondante essudato purulento e la valutazione ultrasonografica ha mostrato la presenza a livello palpebrale di un ascesso contenente un corpo estraneo vegetale che è stato rimosso chirurgicamente. Tre giorni dopo la chirurgia il cane già manifestava un marcato miglioramento con una guarigione completa dopo una settimana. In bibliografia non sono stati mai descritti corpi estranei vegetali penetranti a livello palpebrale come quello riportato nel presente articolo.

Use of ultrasonography to identify a periocular plant foreign body in a dog

“…Ocular plant foreign bodies have been previously reported in dogs. [7][8][9][10] Within soft tissues, plant foreign bodies appear spindle shaped with two to three linear echogenic interfaces. An anechoic halo, due to accumulation of inflammatory fluid and soft tissue reaction surrounding the foreign body, is a common sonographic accompanying feature.…”

“…One unusual case report described a dog with an intrapalpebral grass awn plant foreign body, resulting in an eyelid abscess. 9 Depending on its location within the conjunctiva, a foreign body may not be visible during routine ophthalmic examination. To date, periocular conjunctival plant foreign bodies identified with the aid of sonographic examination have not been reported in the dog.…”

A rare case in a dog of intraorbital foreign body with late signs of cornea penetration - presenting initially as anterior uveitis

“…In a more general context, and based on litereature on injuries in animals as opposed to humans, our case exemplifies the difficulties of lack of anamnestic data and the bizzare mechanism and timing of corneal injury from this unsuspected metallic foreign body (sewing needle) in the orbit (Lavaud et al;Rose et al 2018.;Fische et al 2018;Fischer et al 2018.;Marchegiani et al 2017). It also shows that even given a lack of highly sophisticated diagnostic and surgical equipment, an adequate diagnosis and excellent surgical skill can lead to a good outcome for a patient with this rare type of problem.…”

“…However, a new finding of a triangular opacity in the cornea, stretching from a base at the limbus to the apex about 4 mm centripetally, was now visible. In the region of the opacity, there was also thickening of the cornea that was interpreted, due to the observation period, as corneal oedema or corneal oedema with slight infiltration rather than fibrosis (Kuhn et al 2002;Lavaud et al 2019;Marchegiani et al 2017;MacKay et al 2013).…”

Prostatic Localization of a Migrating Grass Awn Foreign Body in a Dog

“…Imaging techniques such as ultrasonography, computed tomography (CT) or MRI can be useful to identify and guide the removal of grass awns that have migrated into body tissues or cavities [ 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 ]. Recently, some authors have demonstrated the usefulness of transesophageal or transthoracic ultrasonography in identifying migrating grass awns within the thorax [ 17 , 18 , 19 ].…”