Keywords: Dog; Spontaneous pneumothorax; Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine; Treatment

Introduction

Dyspnea, shortness of breath, lethargy, coughing, loss of appetite, remaining sedentary, and other clinical signs such as cyanosis of the visible mucosa, hypoxemia, and respiratory acidosis may occur in affected dogs in the presence of spontaneous pneumothorax, according to a clinical study. In severe cases, it can result in acute respiratory failure and death [1]. In this case, the dog suffered from spontaneous pneumothorax had been treated for more than four months without effectiveness. Therefore, the patient was treated with Chinese herbs according to the guideline of Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine (TCVM), which get fare good outcome. The treatment process and experience are summarized here, which is expected as the reference for other veterinarians in their practice.

Patient information and history

The patient was a 4-year-old intact male labrador with body weight of 29 kg, visited on August 3rd, 2020. the owner complained that the dog developed panting symptoms at the end of March 2020, and the symptoms were not significantly relieved even treated after nearly 4 months of western medicine. So, the dog was referred for TCVM treatment. The dog was fed commercial dog food on a regular time, and his appetite was normal at the start of the illness but decreased a few days before the visit. The stool was soft, and the urine was normal.

Physical examination

The dog was thin with a body condition scoring (BCS) of 3/9 and poor mental state. His clinical signs were shortness of breath, which were slightly relieved after a brief period of silence. The rhinoscope was slightly dry, and when breathing, the nostrils were open and flapping. After artificially induced coughing, white sputum was coughed up. The tongue was cyanotic (Figure 1) and a fine stringlike pulse.

When pressed or tapped on both sides of the chest wall with a hand, the dog appeared to avoid and refuse to press. His temperature was 39.3°C. Heart rate was 120 beats/min.

Figure 1: Tongue color before treatment.

TCVM diagnosis

According to the course of disease was four months, the affected dog had been in poor health and had a history of spontaneous pneumothorax, as well as cyanotic tongue. The patient was diagnosed as Qi insufficiency and Blood Stasis. 

Treatment and outcome

Treatment principle was to resolving sputum and relieving asthma, supplement of Qi, and Promoting Blood circulation. The following drugs were used: Xingren（Almond） 30g (extract 3g) was used to relieving asthma. Juhong (Red tangerine peel) 18g (extract 1.5g), Banxia (Pinelliae Rhizoma) 18g (extract 1.5g), Chenpi (Pericarpium Citri Reticulatae) 18g (extract 3g) and Jiegeng (Platycodon grandiflorus) 12 g (extract 3g) were used to resolve sputum. Danshen (Salvia miltiorrhiza) 20 g (extract 4g), Danggui (Angelica sinensis) 10 g (extract 4g) were used to promote blood circulation. Fuling (Poria cocos) 10g (extract 1g), Baizhu (Atractylodes macrocephala) 10g (extract 3g), Renshen

(Ginseng) 10g (extract 2.5g), Zhigancao (Honey-fried licorice root) 3g (extract 1g) were used to tonify the Qi. All of the extract were provided by Tianjiang Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.. The medicine was taken orally twice a day, according to the extract 0.1 g/kg. After a month of treatment, the dogs recovered completely, with a pink tongue color and good mental (Figure 2).