Exploratory Laparoscopy in a striped skunk (Mephistis mephistis) (Royal Zoological Society of Scotland) - An adult female striped skunk (Mephistis mephistis) was attacked by a fox that broke into her enclosure. She sustained a severe, deep wound below her tail and just above her anus. While the rectum and vagina were not injured, the wound was found to be more than 12cm deep on probing. The possibility of abdominal penetration could not be eliminated by radiography and ultrasonography. An brief exploratory laparoscopy was performed to examine for any signs of peritonitis. a 5mm laparoscope was used, with a sub-umbilical cannula placed via an open approach. The abdomen was found to be unremarkable except for a small number of small incidental biliary cysts in the liver. Surgery time was 8 minutes, and the skunks wounds healed well with medical management.

First published: Thu, Sep 16 2010