Case Study: Lupo’s Face Wound

Lupo had an unfortunate incident in his field and had rolled onto an electric fence post which speared into his cheek. Luckily (and to everyone’s amazement) Lupo was very sensible and was simply stood calmly as our vets arrived on the scene.

After examining Lupo, vet Claudia took x-rays of the fence post and could see a 15cm metal spike going into Lupos face, thankfully it did not appear to have gone into his mouth and was sat in his cheek muscle. An ultrasound examination was then performed where it was identified that the spike was sitting right next to the dorsal branch of Lupos jugular vein. This is a very big blood vessel making removal of the spike more complicated. Luckily, the spike seemed to have missed important blood vessels and nerves.

At this point, Lupo was admitted to the hospital for removal of the stake. It was surgically removed and a drain was placed. This was important as the wound was very contaminated with dirt, making it a high risk for infection post-operatively. Lupo remained in the hospital for a week having daily flushes to keep the wound clean. The drain was then removed once the team were satisfied that everything looked clean and healthy.

Back at home, Lupo has been the model patient and due to some very diligent care from his owners, the wounds have been healing well. One very lucky Lupo. We are very pleased for them all.