Case report : laryngo-thyroid penetrating wooden foreign body (Toothpick)‎ in a 4-month-old boerboel dog

Abstract EN

This paper presents a case of a wooden foreign body (tooth pick) that pierced through the larynx and thyroid gland, resulting in a painful swelling (5.3cm × 3.5cm) in a 4-month-old (16kg) intact male boerboel dog presented at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital (VTH), University of Ibadan (UI), Nigeria.

The owner had noticed the dog in distress, coughing and post-prandial vomiting 2 days prior to presentation.

He also noticed a rapidly growing bulge ventral to the larynx.

A fine needle aspiration cytology revealed evidence of a peri glandular (thyroid) haematoma.

Dorsoventral and lateral radiographic views of the head and neck showed a bulgy area of fluid opacity with no evidence a foreign body.

However, an exploration of the upper airways under propofol anaesthesia revealed a wooden foreign body penetrating the larynx which was extracted with long surgical forceps.

The patient recovered uneventfully, and the swelling receded after 7 days’ antibiotic therapy.

The implication of toothpick foreign bodies to pets’ health and the need for clinicians to enlighten pet owners of the danger posed by them form the basis of this report.