Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Low calcium after surgery for anal sac cancer in a dog
By Saba, Corey et al.·Published in Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association·2011·Department of Small Animal Medicine & Surgery, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Hypocalcemia following surgical treatment of metastatic anal sac adenocarcinoma in a dog.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 9-year-old neutered male mixed-breed dog was brought in for surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from his anal sac, which had spread to nearby lymph nodes. After the surgery, the dog developed low calcium levels, a condition known as hypocalcemia, which was confirmed through blood tests. The vet treated this by giving him calcium injections, which helped bring his levels back to normal. However, the calcium levels later increased again when the cancer returned. This case highlights that low calcium can be a complication after treating certain cancers.
People also search for: dog cancer surgery complications · why is my dog’s calcium low after surgery · anal sac adenocarcinoma treatment in dogs
Abstract
A 9 yr old neutered male mixed-breed dog was presented for an anal sac apocrine gland adenocarcinoma with regional nodal metastases. At presentation, ionized calcium was 1.91 mmol/L (NOVA Stat reference range, 1.1-1.3 mmol/L). Surgical excision of the primary tumor and metastatic lymph nodes was performed. Following surgery, symptomatic hypocalcemia was noted. Repeated ionized calcium measurements confirmed hypocalcemia, and hypercalcemia of malignancy panels suggested parathyroid gland suppression as the cause. The calcium normalized with parenteral calcium administration, but calcium later became elevated with tumor recurrence and an increase in the parathormone-related peptide. Disrupted calcium homeostasis is a potential complication following the treatment of long-standing humoral hypercalcemia of malignancy.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22058367/