An abscess is a pocket of pus walled off by a fibrous capsule. In dogs, most subcutaneous abscesses follow a bite or a penetrating foreign body, but the same process can form behind the eye, in the neck, around a tooth root or in an anal sac. The exam point is simple and the clinical one is the same: a mature abscess is cured by drainage, and antibiotics are a supporting act.
Key facts
Abscess at a glance- Species and system: dog; skin and subcutis most often, but also deep sites (neck, orbit, tooth roots, anal sacs, body cavities).
- Cause: bacteria inoculated by bites, sticks, grass awns or other penetrating objects, or spreading from an infected tooth or anal sac.
- Organisms: usually mixed aerobes and anaerobes; Pasteurella, streptococci, staphylococci, E. coli, Bacteroides, Fusobacterium and Actinomyces are frequent isolates.
- Classic presentation: a warm, painful swelling that becomes fluctuant a few days after a dog fight, often with fever and lethargy; it may rupture and drain foul pus.
- Key treatment: open at the most dependent point, lavage, remove foreign material, allow drainage; antimicrobials as indicated.
- Zoonotic note: not contagious, but the dog's oral flora that causes the abscess also causes infected bites in people.
What's inside
12 sections in the full guide- Key facts
- How the NAVLE tests this
- Cause and pathophysiology
- Clinical signs
- Diagnosis
- Differential diagnoses
- Treatment and management
- Prevention, control and public health
- Prognosis
- Quick review
- Test yourself
- References
The full guide also has 5 tables, 2 figures, 3 self-test questions and 13 references, available to NAVLE members.
Read the full study guide
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