The dog is one of the ancient pet animals which man is keeping for centuries. There are a number of infectious and non-infectious diseases from which the dogs suffer. Ear as an important part of the body also suffers from many diseases such as otitis externa, otitis media and otitis interna. The inflammatory ailment of external ear canal is called as otitis externa. In small animal practice 10-20% of the admitted dogs are reported with problem have the problem of otitis externa. There are different techniques for the treatment of otitis externa such as medicinal and surgical procedures. Among the surgical procedures the one procedure is total ear canal ablation. Total ear canal ablation is procedure in which both horizontal and vertical ear canals are surgically removed. In case of unresponsive condition of the skin, there is preference of TECA over lateral ear resection and should be done in combination with a lateral bulla osteotomy.
The present study was conducted on 16 clinical cases of Pet Centre, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (UVAS), Lahore. The dogs were divided into two groups A and B, each group with 8 dogs. Group A was surgically operated for total ear canal ablation with lateral bulla osteotomy (LBO) and was further divided into two groups (A-I, A-II), in which 4 dogs were surgically treated by TECA-LBO along with surgical placement of a passive drain system (Group A-I) and remaining 4 dogs were treated by TECA-LBO without placing the drain (Group A -II). Group B was surgically operated for total ear canal ablation without lateral bulla osteotomy, it was further divided into two groups (B-I, B-II), in which 4 dogs were surgically treated by TECA along with surgical placement of a passive drain system (Group B-I) and remaining 4 dogs were treated by TECA without placing the drain (Group B -II).
Summary
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Out of total 16 dogs from all 4 subgroups having 4 dogs in each, wound infection was present in total 1, 2 and 1 dog of group A-I, B-I and B-II respectively, while there was no wound infection in all dogs of group A-II. Out of the total 16 dogs from all 4 subgroups having four dogs in each wound was healed in total 3, 4, 2 and 3 dogs in group in A-I, A-II, B-I and B-II respectively, while there was no healing of wound in total 1, 2 and 1 dog of group A-I, B-I and B-II respectively. The results of white blood cell count for present study showed that out of total 16 dogs from all 4 subgroups having 4 dogs in each, white blood count was different from normal range in total 1, 2 and 1 dogs of group A-I, B-I and B-II respectively indicating the infection while white blood cell count was in normal range of total 3, 4, 2 and 3 dogs in group A-I, A-II, B-I and B-II respectively. The result of present study for the wound complications showed that out of total 16 dogs from all 4 subgroups having 4 dogs in each, there were presence of complications in total 1, 2 and 1 dog of group A-I, B-I and B-II respectively, while there was no wound complication in all dogs of group A-II. It can be concluded from the results of wound infection, wound healing time, white blood cell count and wound complications for the present study, total ear canal ablation with lateral bulla osteotomy is a comparatively better technique then total ear canal ablation alone.