I thought it might be fun to document an interesting case now and then.
I do understand that topics I find fun and interesting as a veterinarian may not be your idea of a good time. If surgical pictures bother you, this may be the time to visit another site. I promise not to do this often.
I didn't think of having pictures taken of this one until the tech had him on the prep table and I was feeling a bit of a challenge presenting itself.
This adult Boxer was diagnosed with a lipoma on his neck 2 years ago. A small one. Not a problem, as lipomas are generally benign fatty tumors that usually cause no problems, unless they grow... and grow.... and grow.... He came in recently for his vaccine boosters and an exam of the lump. It had grown so large he had trouble turning his neck. He is a real sweetheart of a dog and the owners wanted to know if something could be done. I wish I had a picture of him standing so you could see the extent of that mass, it extended from his mandible to his shoulder blade (or scapula to you anatomy buffs).
He is under anesthesia and is being shaved and scrubbed for surgery.
The surgical site is draped, the skin incision is made, I begin bluntly dissecting the lipoma away from the subcutaneous tissue.
Luckily (for me), this lipoma is nicely encapsulated in it's own little sac. It is deep and large, manually separating the tumor from normal tissue is done by hand and by instrument.
Bit by bit the tumor emerges from the incision. The goal is to keep it intact as one piece, it is easier to remove and that helps control hemorrhage.
This lipoma has quite a healthy blood supply. Look at the size of those vessels. Hemostats and suture material are used to tie off bleeders as needed. See how it glistens? The outer surface slips and slides like melted crisco has been poured on.
Slowly the lipoma is being separated from the attached surrounding tissue and eased out of the cavity it resided, grew and thrived in for the past 2 years. It wasn't leaving easily. It actually extended deep beneath the scapula, quite a 'hole' to work in and tie off blood vessels.
An hour after the initial incision, the dog is lipoma-free, at last. That thing is huge and just globs off over my hands.
We place it on the scale. 3# of pure fat... Ugh. I started a diet then and there.
Case #1: Do you remember this patient from an earlier post? .jpg)
And the surgery removing that very large lipoma (fatty tumor) from his neck?
Well here he is recovered and sporting a much more attractive neck line!
Case #2: I thought you may find this case interesting.... What's wrong with this picture?
Case#3: And then we have this little one. I'll call it, "not a tumor...." Can you find what's wrong with this picture?
Case#4: The ugly mass on this dog's rear leg turned out to be a lymphosarcoma. A bad cancer of the lymph nodes.
Case#5: Another tumor. This one is on a female dog,she is laying on her back in the picture. Another bad one. This one was a mammary cancer.
