Traumatic tracheal rupture in a dog

A 2-years old dachshund developed massive subcutaneous emphysema with progr essive dyspnea:secondary to a bite wound in the area of the neck. A complet e disruption of the trachea was diagnosed and surgically repaired. Five tra umatized tracheal rings had to be resected before anastombsis. The tracheal rings were splitted for resection and end-to-end anastomosis with interrup ted sutures and absorbable suture material was performed. Additional tensio n relieving sutures were used to minimize the occurrence of postoperative s tenosis. Four days after surgery the initial symptoms reoccurred secundary to a suture dehiscence that was surgically corrected.