Yuet Yee Pang^1,2, Beatrice Hertel^1,2,3, Vasileia Logothetou^1,2,4,5

¹Small Animal Hospital, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom. ²MRCVS, London, United Kingdom. ³BSAVA PGCert (SAS), Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, United Kingdom. ⁴PgC (SAS), Harper Adams University, Newport, United Kingdom. ⁵DipECVS, Zurich, Switzerland

Objectives

Conditions affecting the mandibular coronoid process and surgical approaches to it are rarely described in veterinary medicine. We report an alternative surgical approach to the mandibular coronoid process in dogs, which did not involve an osteotomy.

Methods

Two dogs with pain while opening the mouth were included. The skin was incised dorsal to the zygomatic arch and the temporalis fascia was elevated from the dorsal border of the zygomatic arch. Blunt dissection was performed along the orientation of the temporalis muscle fibres, up to the mandibular coronoid process. A periosteal elevator was used to elevate the temporalis muscle fibres from the coronoid process, medially or laterally, to allow surgical exploration of the areas of interest.

Results

Investigations were suggestive of a possible foreign body on the medial and lateral aspect of the mandibular coronoid process (in one dog medial and in one dog lateral). Surgical access was achieved via the aforementioned approach. A foreign body was identified and removed in one dog. In the second dog, no foreign body was detected during surgical exploration and surgical biopsies of the affected muscle were obtained. Both dogs resumed eating the day after surgery. No intraoperative or postoperative complications related to the surgical approach were observed.

Statement: Impact/ Clinical Significance

The described approach provides a less invasive and less technically demanding approach to the mandibular coronoid process without the need for a zygomatic osteotomy, and can be considered for selected cases. It resulted in a quick recovery time, low tissue damage and associated pain.