CLINICAL INTEROCCURRENCES AND THERAPEUTIC APPROACHES DURING RECOVERY OF A BROWN BROCKET DEER (Subulo gouazoubira) AFTER SURGICAL HINDLIMB AMPUTATION: CASE REPORT

Abstract

The brown brocket deer (Subulo gouazoubira) is a ruminant of the Cervidae family that occurs widely in the Caatinga biome in Brazil, where it is subject to great pressure from human activity, especially predatory hunting. Thus, it is not uncommon for animals to suffer bone fractures that require surgical treatment. This report describes the clinical case of a female brown brocket deer, approximately 2 months old, who underwent high surgical amputation of the right hind limb. In addition to the anesthetic and surgical protocols used, clinical complications, such as failures in the healing process and locomotor impairment, were recorded during patient monitoring. The use of chondroitin sulfate associated with glucosamine was presented, for the first time, in auxiliary therapy for healing, as well as in preventive or adjuvant therapy for locomotive impairment in cervids. Equally innovative, a therapeutic approach with topical medication was described to reverse the muscular inflammatory condition and rehabilitate the movement of the remaining limb of the amputated animal. Finally, in an incipient manner, infrared thermography was used to monitor the recovery of the muscular injury, a pathology that is of outstanding relevance in wild animals such as deer. The patient fully adapted to the use of three limbs, indicating that all clinical and therapeutic approaches were performed appropriately, respecting the characteristics of the species, providing a successful outcome. The patient recovered completely, returning to normal movement approximately 170 days after surgery and remaining so until the time of completion of this study, when he is almost 26 months old.