Thoracoscopic foreign body removal and right middle lung lobectomy to treat pyothorax in a dog.

Peláez, M Jiménez; Jolliffe, C

A three-year-old, 30-kg, spayed female German wirehaired pointer was presented for coughing, pyrexia and lethargy. Thoracic radiographs showed mild right-sided pleural effusion, moderate pneumothorax and a pulmonary lesion in the right middle or caudal lung lobe. A diagnosis of pyothorax was established by fine needle aspiration of the pleural effusion. Thoracoscopic exploration was performed using one-lung ventilation. A vegetal foreign body (grass awn) and an abscess were observed in the distal part of the right middle lung lobe. The foreign body was removed and a right middle lung lobectomy was performed, both thoracoscopically. No complications were noted. The dog was discharged 48 hours after surgery, and no recurrence of the clinical signs was observed during the follow-up time period (three years and three months). Thoracoscopy is a minimally invasive alternative to thoracotomy to explore and successfully treat some non-chronic pyothoraces in dogs, including lesions affecting the right middle lung lobe.