Edinburgh hospital issues awareness plea after fish hook cases

Clinicians at a university hospital have offered new advice to vets facing animals that have swallowed fish hooks after tackling three similar cases within weeks of each other.

In the latest incident, a three-pronged hook was removed from three-year-old Chip, pictured, through endoscopy, which meant invasive surgery wasn’t required.

Vets at the University of Edinburgh’s Hospital for Small Animals now hope to use his case and others to raise awareness of the potential dangers.

Timely management

Marisa Ferreira, from the hospital’s internal medicine service, said: “Although dogs who have swallowed fish hooks often go on to make a full recovery, success depends on rapid recognition, appropriate first response, and timely definitive management.

“With greater awareness among dog owners, veterinary teams, and the fishing community, many fish hook injuries are preventable.”

The case followed two other incidents within the same month, where one dog had swallowed a hook while another had one embedded in the lip.

Advice

The hospital said cases of that kind are not restricted solely to the fishing season and warned primary care decisions can have a major impact on case outcomes as it issued the following advice to clinicians:

• Do not pull on or cut fishing line unless hook is fully visible within the oral cavity and can be locally retrieved under sedation or general anaesthesia
• Take cervical, thoracic and abdominal radiographs – hooks are usually clearly visible
• Use point-of-care ultrasound where available
• Look for complications such as free abdominal gas or fluid
• Refer urgently for endoscopic assessment
• Leave the line intact and secure it to a neck collar, protected by an Elizabethan collar, to prevent migration while travelling to a referral hospital
• Provide appropriate pain relief and mild sedation for transport.