Surgical management of a traumatic lateral hernia involving the spleen in a cat: A case report

Abstract

Traumatic body wall hernias are characterized by protrusion of organs from a body cavity via a traumatically created defect. A one year old, male, Persian cat was presented to the Small Animal Surgery - Out-patient unit of Madras Veterinary College, Chennai, with a history of being attacked by a dog the previous day. On physical examination, a soft, painless, reducible mass with a hernial ring was palpable on the left lateral abdomen. On clinical examination, the pet was normal in habits, therefore, surgical repair of the hernia was opted. A skin incision was made over the mass and the subcutaneous tissue was undermined. The herniated organs were diagnosed as the spleen with omentum. Adhesions between the spleen and the hernial ring were relieved and the spleen was exteriorized to assess vitality. The spleen and omentum were replaced back into the abdominal cavity as no abnormalities were evident. Herniorrhaphy was chosen over hernioplasty. The animal recovered uneventfully and sutures were removed 10 days post-operatively.