![]() If these nerves are diseased prior to surgery, it is unlikely that they will regain function after surgery. It is important to assess the patient’s cranial nerve function prior to surgery.Further cultures may still be required once the bullae are opened. This helps get the patient on an effective antibiotic right from the beginning. These images help confirm that this very aggressive surgery is really appropriate for this patient. Sedation is generally required, but it will be useful to know before surgery how bad the bullae look, how narrowed the ear canals are and if they are mineralized, and if there is an obvious tumor growing. Radiographs or, even better, CT scanning, to assess the tympanic bullae are helpful.Potential complications will be reviewed in more detail later on. Many important nerves travel through the area of the ear, and these are exposed for damage in surgery. Damage can be temporary or permanent after surgery. Its lining can even fill with secretory cells that produce more unpleasant material and bone can be destroyed. ![]() A normal bulla is hollow and air-filled but after years of otitis, it becomes an unreachable, uncleanable source of continued infection. If you are not sure what a tympanic bulla is, you can reach behind your own ear and note that your skull has a smooth round structure. The ear flap is basically a satellite dish for sound and, while it most likely has its own dermatitis issues and may continue to have them, the internal ear structures will be gone.Īs for the tympanic bulla, it must be cracked open and fully cleaned out as it is most likely full of pus, slime, and/or cheesy infectious material. The area will be closed, leaving smooth skin with no opening at the base of the ear flap. The ear canal is cored out and closed up, thus removing the entire channel that has been the subject of cleaning and flushing for an undoubtedly long period of time. Removal of the ear structures is just what it sounds like. This surgery essentially removes the ear structures (leaving the ear flap unchanged) and cleans out the tympanic bulla, a structure that most pet owners are unaware of. This seems like a beautiful dream to the owner of the pet with end-stage ears but happily, it is a realistic dream so long as the process and its associated risks are understood. The fluid and inflammatory material in the right bulla is gray. The bulla on the left is normal and is filled with air (as it should be). CT Scan from a cat with a polyp in the bulla shown on the right.
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