Mister Bo Jangles

Mister Bo Jangles came to the clinic on the 1^st of Aug, when Tessa our vet examined him, his breathing was not right, and he was working harder than normal to breathe. He had recently been hit by a tractor. X-rays were taken of his chest, identifying that he had a diaphragmatic hernia.

The diaphragm is made of muscle and tendon, its role is to separate the lungs in the chest, from the organs in the abdomen. A diaphragmatic hernia occurs when severe trauma causes the diaphragm to tear, and then things that should be in the abdomen move in to the chest cavity. Causing breathing difficulties as the lungs struggle to expand properly as their space has been taken up from the organs from the abdomen.

Mister Bo Jangles was taken to surgery to remove the abdominal organs from his chest, back to where they belong. In fact, most of his intestines and his liver had moved into his chest! Once this was surgically corrected, we then had the difficult task of trying to stich up his diaphragm. This was very hard as it is such a small space to be working in, and to ensure that there are no leaks in the diaphragm that could cause further complications.

During the surgery Brian the vet had the help of three nurses as it was such a high risk anaesthetic. He had one nurse dedicated to manually breathing for Mister Bo Jangles, as when you open up the abdomen and there is a hole in the diaphragm, it can no longer function to inflate the lungs. One nurse was closely monitoring the difficult anaesthetic. Also another nurse was scrubbed in holding vital organs out the way so that Brian could reach the tear in the diaphragm.

After the surgery a chest drain was placed to remove any excess air that had built up in the chest cavity. Mister Bo Jangles stayed in the hospital for three days having his chest drained every few hours. Once the air being drained had reduced the drain was removed and he was able to go home on strict rest. On follow up he has made a full recovery and is back to himself helping his dad out on the farm but keeping his distance from any moving tractors.