Montana GypsyRose Ranch

Meet Remi

This sweet little yearling presented to Lasalle on emergency for a penetrating chest wound caused by a metal T-post. In the first video, you can hear air flowing through the wound as he breathes. Ultrasound confirmed that both of his lungs were collapsed.

Dr. Laura and the team rushed him to surgery. It was very risky and we weren't sure if he was even going to make it onto the surgery table. He was placed under general anesthesia and we had to inflate his lungs for each breath. Once in the surgery, we discovered that he had a fractured rib and the hole in his chest was much larger than we suspected. Dr. Laura removed the sharp edges on the broken rib to minimize the risk of it puncturing his lung and then wired the rib together. In the second video, you can see the rib wired together and his lung moving over the diaphragm as we give him a breath. Dr. Laura then closed the large hole in his chest with multiple layers of suture. Once he was all closed up, a suction machine was used to re-inflate his lungs. See comments for videos.
..to be continued.