Emergency - Hook, line and sinker

Benji never was the smartest dog, and his recent visit to his local beach was no exception.

“Benji”, a 7 month old Kelpie X, was out for a morning stroll on his local Mornington Peninsula beach. It was just like many other days with the regular fishermen on the pier and joggers braving a crisp winter morning for the sake of some exercise. The morning walk took a turn for the worse when Benji wandered over to one of the fishermen and proceeded to help himself to some bait…fish hook attached.

Benji seemed quite happy about his free snack, but his owner immediately launched into a delicate, if pressured, attempt to remove the hook. After a couple of minutes of panic Benji’s owner decided discretion was the better part of valour and efforts to remove the hook were delayed while a vet was located. Luckily for Benji he was only a few hundred metres from the nearest veterinary clinic and was soon on his way for a consultation. Benji presented at the local clinic with the hook stuck precariously at the back of this throat, but still in a position where it could be removed with some expert assistance.

Benji, however, had other ideas. He escaped from his owner and in the space of 30 seconds had run through the clinic to find a food bowl in a back room. By the time Benji was captured he had helped himself to several gulps of food and the hook was no longer visible. An expedited x-ray subsequently confirmed the presence and location of the hook in Benji’s intra-thoracic oesophagus. Benji’s morning on the beach was officially over!

At this point options for removal of the hook were either a thoracotomy, or attempted removal via endoscopy. Referral to SAEC was elected as endoscopy was determined to be the least invasive method for removal of the fish hook and was also the least expensive.

On arrival at SAEC Benji was anaethsetised, and endoscopic retrieval attempted. Being one of the more common items to lodge in the oesophagus, staff have a range of devices designed to remove such hooks with minimal fuss. Endoscopy confirmed that the hook was still in the mucosa and endoscopic removal proceeded. The hook removal device was inserted to lift the barb from the mucosa while preventing the hook from re-inserting during removal. Within several minutes the fish hook in this case was retrieved with minimal trauma to the oesophagus. Shortly after Benji was well on his way to an uneventful recovery. He was discharged once fully recovered from anaesthesia with a course of antibiotics, sucralfate and gastric protectants. Discharge advice was given and Benji completed his afternoon by returning to his Peninsula home after a day of unexpected adventure.

Needless to say he didn’t complete his walk on the beach and a shorter lead was purchased from his regular vet soon after…

Endoscopy is a fantastic first stop when attempting foreign body removal from the proximal gastrointestinal tract. It is non invasive, avoids the need for higher risk surgery (especially thoracotomy), and in most cases is less expensive for the owner than surgical foreign body removal. It also carries the advantage of being able to visualise the GI tract after removal to assess the extent of damage-bruising, ulceration or penetration.

At SAEC we have a range of video endoscopes available to suit a wide range of applications from foreign body removal from the duodenum of a Great Dane, to feline bronchoscopy. We also have a range of tools to assist in endoscopic removal of various foreign bodies. These include snares, baskets, a range of ‘grabbers’ and more exotic tools such as an assortment of fish hook removers.

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