Case Study - Eye Injury
Buttons is a 25 year old Shetland pony. He was seen for a swelling around his eye that had come up suddenly overnight.
Dr Nikita visited Buttons where she examined his eye and found trauma to the upper and lower eyelids, as well as corneal oedema (swelling of the eyeball). Nikita suspected he had recently hit his face on a fence and in so doing had wounded his eye. At that time his eye was only about 40% open. No foreign body was seen when examined and so he was treated with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, antibiotics and atropine eye drops.
A week later the eyeball looked better but a small but firm swelling had developed on his lower lid.
During the coming days a large abscess formed in the lower eyelid, likely due to a splinter making its way in there after hitting his eye on the fence. Buttons was in need of a small operation to remove the splinter and drain the wound, so he was booked into the Illawarra Equine Centre Clinic for surgery. During the required surgery the pus was drained from the wound and a penrose drain was placed in the lower eyelid. This was flushed daily until the swelling went down.
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Within a short while, the wound had started to heal, the swelling reduced and Buttons was able to go home.
During surgery at the clinic, a penrose drain was inserted into the lower eyelid to assist in drainage of the affected area.
Examining the eye for any sign of any foreign object.
Within a couple of days, the swelling had reduced and Buttons was back to his normal self.
Buttons back at home and fully recovered from his surgery.
