Ear hematoma...anesthesia risk

Yes they are going to drain it and tack it back. He will have to wear a cone for 2 weeks so that isnt going to be fun. Well I know what caused the hematoma or atleast I think I do. My brother has a very rowdy 1 yr old black lab that comes over every now and then to play and they get very ruff so my guess is she bite his ear alittle too hard the other day when they were outside playing. The vet did a full exam and he seems to be completely heathly no ear infections or other itching issues. I clean his ears once a week along with all of my other dogs because my jack russell keeps bad ear infections. The vet did inform me his ear would not stand up properly ever again and I ask her about her experience with these surgeries because I know there is a risk of them coming back and she said that in 15 yrs she has had one come back to have another surgery. So I am going to have the blood work done and go from there. My main concern is it bursting here at home if it is left untreated or it coming back. How long do hematomas normally take to heal on there own.

Did you vet tell you anything more about hematomas and how they are normally treated?

Basically, the term hematoma is used when you have any kind of abnormal space underneath the skin that fills with blood. Hematomas are generally caused by injury which breaks blood vessels under the skin and causes a pocket to form and fill with the blood. In cats and dogs, it's usually due to shaking their heads or scratching their ears due to allergies or illness, but it can also be due to playing with other dogs, and the like.

There are a couple of different ways a vet can treat a hematoma. The first is aspiration, which means draining the hematoma. Since that doesn't close the "space" created by it, it can fill up again, so this isn't a very good fix. The second is surgery, such as what your vet has probably planned. Here, they drain the ear and then tack the two sides together to hold the "gap" caused by the hematoma closed until it heals up. And the last option is o open the ear up and place a drain in it and let it drain and heal.

Surgery is the easiest way to fix it and usually has the best results, although if the hematoma is at the tip of the dog's ear, there is no absolute guarantee that the ear will look just like before or that it will remain standing. It is not uncommon for ears to flop over at the top if that's where the hematoma was located.

Hematomas in the bottom part of the ear sometimes can be left alone as the blood does eventually absorb, however, the ear won't go back to normal, it'll look somewhat bumpy. (They call this "cauliflower ear".)

I would recommend you go with your vet's recommendation about fixing the ear, especially since it is the top / tip of the ear where the hematoma is located. That'll probably be the best chance of keeping the ear a normal shape.

Originally Posted By: ArearisWell it seems a bit drastic to me to have him put under for something that isnt going to harm him health wise. I mean is a deformed ear the worse that will happen if I just leave it alone? It hasnt got any bigger since yesterday and the vet said it wouldnt if he will leave it alone long enough for it to clot up. So he has been staying in as much as possible which isnt hard to make him do with the heat outside and he hasnt been shaking his head so is it possible for it to go away on its own without and harming his health?

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You can chose either way, here is what I found:

Small hematomas may heal without a problem but any hematoma has the potential to cause scarring of the ear, which can result in a crumpled looking ear. If the scarring is severe it can partially obstruct the ear canal, which can be a serious complication if ear infections occur. Large hematomas should be treated surgically or medically.

Surgery usually involves making an incision on the inner aspect of the ear and draining the blood, removing any blood clots that are left and then suturing the two sides of the ear together by putting sutures all the way through it, in a "mattress" pattern. Sometimes it is possible just to place a drain and massage the blood out of the ear daily until it heals.

Medical treatment is accomplished by giving a cortisone product, such as prednisone, to control the itching and scarring and waiting for the ear to heal, which might take a month or more. It may be necessary to use an antibiotic at the same time and it is always important to identify and eliminate any underlying cause, such as fleas or ear mites.