Abstract
Various treatments and their prognosis in 59 aural hematomas of 49 dogs were evaluated retrospectively. In 2 cases untreated, 1 case, which could be followed periodically, developed marked deformation of the pinna. All 23 cases treated with needle aspiration showed immediate recurrence of hematoma. No cases reached healing by repeated needle aspirations alone, but 9 cases receiving repeated aspiration followed by local injection of corticosteroids reached healing within 4 weeks. Nine of these 23 cases received surgery after the recurrence. In 43 cases treated with surgical incision and mattress suture at the hematoma site, no recurrence was noted before the suture removal. Recurrence after healing was observed in 2 of 9 cases (22.2%) receiving the corticosteroid injection, 4 of 14 cases (26.6%) treated with longitudinal incision at the hematoma site, and none of 28 cases treated with multiple incisions at the hematoma site using a biopsy punch. These results suggest the effectiveness of corticosteroids against the hematoma reformation after aspiration, and the comparatively better prognosis after the surgery with multiple incisions using a biopsy punch.
