New video-assisted surgery to fix sunken chest in a young dog

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To describe a novel, video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) approach used to treat pectus excavatum (PE) in a dog. ANIMALS: A 5 month-old, 5.1 kg, intact, female, Cockapoo. STUDY DESIGN: Case report. METHODS: Clinical, imaging and surgical records of a dog with severe PE who underwent VATS-assisted sternal cast placement were reviewed and reported. Treatment involved introduction of a mild pneumothorax and use of VATS, allowing direct visualization and therefore safe passage of circumsternal sutures as they were placed to reduce the risk of vascular/cardiac or pulmonary penetration and intraoperative complication in this patient. RESULTS: Treatment involved introduction of a mild pneumothorax and use of VATS, allowing direct visualization and therefore safe passage of circumsternal sutures as they were placed to reduce the risk of vascular/cardiac or pulmonary penetration and intraoperative complications in this patient. The patient recovered well and had an excellent long-term outcome with significantly improved vertebral index and frontosagittal index. CONCLUSION: This modified technique resulted in an excellent outcome and minimized the risk of intraoperative complications during the surgical procedure in a dog. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: This novel VATS approach for PE correction may provide a useful technique to help reduce intraoperative risk during PE correction in dogs.