Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
How a thorn was safely removed from a dog's eye chamber
By Wiggans, K Tomo·Published in Veterinary ophthalmology·2025·Sage Veterinary Centers, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Removal of an anterior chamber foreign body using hydropulsion and ophthalmic viscoelastic device capture in a dog.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 6-year-old female spayed pit bull was brought in for a cloudy spot on her eye after she ran into a thorny plant a month earlier. The vet found a suspected thorn stuck in her eye, causing mild inflammation. During surgery, they used a special technique to flush out the thorn and capture it with a gel-like substance. A month later, her eye inflammation was gone, and follow-up tests showed that the thorn was successfully removed.
People also search for: dog eye problems after running into plant · pit bull eye thorn removal · treatment for dog uveitis
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To describe the removal of an adherent, presumed plant-based, anterior chamber foreign body (ACFB) from the inferior iridocorneal angle in a dog using hydropulsion and ophthalmic viscoelastic device (OVD) capture. ANIMAL STUDIED: A 6-year-old female spayed pit bull terrier who was referred for further evaluation of a corneal opacity after being observed running into a thorned succulent plant 1 month earlier. On ophthalmic examination, no corneal foreign body was noted, though mild uveitis was present. Gonioscopy revealed a suspected plant foreign body (thorn tip) in the inferior iridocorneal angle. PROCEDURE: Under general anesthesia, the ACFB was dislodged from the inferior iridocorneal angle using hydropulsion with balanced salt solution. The superior half of the anterior chamber had been filled with 2% hydroxypropyl methylcellulose OVD to trap the foreign object. One month later, the uveitis had resolved and repeat gonioscopy confirmed the absence of any ACFB in the iridocorneal angle. CONCLUSION: In the absence of an intraoperative goniolens or endoscopy, hydropulsion and OVD capture of adherent ACFBs may be a feasible option for removal.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39325057/