Ear surgery/hematoma

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by Mojo06 on 30 October 2010 - 13:10

My dog just had the surgery done on his ear yesterday. When I picked him up I was shocked to see what the doctor had done. His ear looks all shriveled up and the same as when I brought him in, just not puffy anymore. I am having a hard time because to me the ears really give the look of the shepherd. I know that I shouldn't feel this way because I know his ear is fixed now, but she/the vet really should have explained it better as to what I should expect. I asked her when I picked him up if his ear will ever go back up and was told probably not. Maybe she should have told me this before the surgery, then I would have been prepared seeing I never had this happen in any other pet.

Moral of the story...ask a lot of questions. Unless the vet is a fan of the German Shepherd they aren't concerned about the ear going back up, they are concerned with making it so that it doesn't fill up with blood again. I guess I should be grateful it is fixed, but now my Shepherd has a Collie ear. Doesn't seem to bother him and I will get use to it.

One more thing, I agree with the other poster,,,DON'T use the lampshade collar. Just crushes the ear down. Oh and do be careful...My dog was sensitive to the anesthesia, took all day for him to respond to me. Made me very nervous that I took the risk to fix his ear and he wasn't the same. He is better this am, Thank God!

by shostring on 30 October 2010 - 15:10

the one good thing is the dog is well again if the ear does not go up he is still the same loving friend that loves you and this should not make any diffrence to the way you feel about him just take care of him and enjoy him as we dont have them long enough good luck

by missyfly96 on 30 October 2010 - 19:10

What was the purpose of the surgery then. I have an old shepherd that had a hematoma in both ears and the doctor said if we did not do the surgery the body would absorb the blood in the ear, but he ears would never go up again. At her age (being 13) we chose not to do the surgery. The puffiness did go away now she has tipped ears like my border collie.

I read an understood the surgery for the hemotama would be to put little stitches throughout the ear (maybe 25 or so just a guess) and the ear would stant up again.

by Renofan2 on 30 October 2010 - 20:10

A friends 2 year old gsd had surgery for a hematoma and after they surgery, they sewed an insert to the ear and removed it a few weeks later. His ear stands correctly, so no permenant damge. Not sure if all vets offer this. I know she checked around until she found this one.

Cheryl

by JulieM on 30 October 2010 - 20:10

What is most important with ear hematoma's is prevention first. If your dog has ears that are bothering him/her, get inflamed, infected and have open sores from scratching and digging or redness that causes head shaking get the ears treated before it leads to trauma and an aural hematoma. It is the shaking of the head that cause the bursting of blood vessels in the ear that causes the build up of fluid.

As above mf96 said in order for the ears to heal properly they must be "tacked" correctly during surgery. And also vets do not regularly practice cosmetic surgery but repair and so you need to be informed ahead of time when you go in and insist it is done properly as well as wrapped properly for the ears to stand properly. However if the ear has already began to wrinkle or re absorb prior to surgery you may still have a collie ear there after. I have seen many surgeries performed correctly and with a little extra care that stood following the aural hematoma. Here are some pictures I took for demonstration purposes on how the ear needs to be wrapped as well as a diagram of the way the suturing needs to be tacked for greatest success. The process of Tacking leaves less space between the skin and cartilage. and makes it more of a press not allowing space for fluids to build back up as opposed to drains being put in that cause additional trauma to the ear. Thank you again retired Irma vom Korbelbach SchH2 ( 12 years old ) for putting up with me and being such a good sport!! Sorry the diagram pictures is so large and the pictures are out of sequence. Hopefully you can figure them out in order. .
Definitely calling around ahead of time to make sure a vet knows how to tack or use an insert is critical to success as well as their willingness to "care' about cosmetic results. Many vets also will just bandage the entire ear flat to the dogs head and wrap additional bandage around the dogs neck.... disastrous!

by malshep on 30 October 2010 - 22:10

Julie very well worded, it tech works quite well. I love the demo pictures :)
Always,
Cee

by jmopaso on 31 October 2010 - 00:10

Good stuff JulieM. a hair hard to follow, but good stuff.
Most important, ear problems that cause head shaking are not to be ignored, hematomas can be created by a head shaking dog very quickly. We have done a number of GSD hematoma surgeries and even with careful cosmetic care the results vary greatly depending on how long from formation to surgery, the original ear problem severity and aftercare provided.
I never like to see an aural hematoma in any breed whose ears stand. It does not bode well.

by Onyxgirl on 31 October 2010 - 02:10

My dog developed a hematoma as she has allergies to dust mites, therefore chronic ear problems.

I took her into my vet the day I saw swelling, because I knew it would just get worse...paid for an "off hours visit" as she was closed on Saturdays.
I assisted in the anesthesia because my dog is fear aggressive and is hard to be put under. I was there during the surgery and gave the gas to Onyx to keep her from fighting the vet.(clipped her nails while she was under~bonus!).
The vet made an incision about 2" inside the ear to relieve the pressure and stitched only 4 places(a square) to keep the ear from swelling up again. Onyx's ear stands fine, but there is some scar tissue. She wore the cone of shame for about 4 days while it was healing. The vet wanted the incision to stay open for a week to keep it from filling up again, so did not suture the incision itself. The stitches were left in place for 2 weeks.
I think if you catch it early the ear cartilege won't be damaged severely.

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