#radiographs

[talesfromtreatment]

Sir, your spleen a- should not be this large, b- should be that far down your body, and c- why the fuck is your spleen on the right side of your body why is it there it doesn't belong there put it back

[iheartvmt]

Another day another pyometra

We took her to emergency surgery, and she did great.

Spay your pets!

[kuebikome]

A 9 yo chihuahua presents with anorexia, lethargy, and vomiting 2 days following a Thanksgiving gathering. She was brought into my clinic on Monday where a chem17/cbc/lytes/and a cpl lipase were ran in conjunction with radiographs. There were signs of hemophillia and the ALP and ALT were both elevated into the 250s. The gallbladder did not initially present as air filled. We noticed gas as we did daily radiographs, fluids, and antiemetics on Tuesday. After sending out these radiographs on Wednesday (and redoing blood work, which revealed an improved RBC and ALT but an ALP now in the 1000s) for specialist review, we received a diagnosis of Emphysematous Cholecystitis. This is a very rare condition that results in anaerobic bacteria infecting the gallbladder and producing gas which leads to risk of rupture and necrotising tissue. This is my dog, and she underwent a cholecystectomy on Friday to remove the gallbladder prior to rupture. In these two radiographs, you can see the gas and a halo effect common in cholecystitis. While causes of emphysematous cholecystitis is poorly understood in dogs and humans, recent studies suggest an insufficient vascular flow through the gallbladder may predispose patients to this. When Ollie underwent surgery, it was revealed that there was a small point of previous focal rupture of the gallbladder. Interestingly, you can see this on these radiographs as the somewhat hyperechoic (the lighter gray area) node of the otherwise dark and gas filled gallbladder. (Not to be confused with the billiary sludge which appears white in the gallbladder). I’m hoping to bring her home tomorrow, but as a tech and student I figured I would share my experience as it is interesting! Not fun at all but for sure a learning experience.

[shadythetortie]

Hello again! Same anon, the bit I was wondering about was just below the liver (I did some googling and I think it's part of the GI tract or a kidney?) But the lungs actually really bring the part that I was curious about to the front of my brain, why are they so much darker then the rest? It's it because it's all air in there? Would that be the reason it would be darker in the GI tract too?

(sorry never realised how curious I was about how radiographs worked until today!)

That part is a chunk of fat that is there to protect the liver and spleen - kidneys are actually right up against the spine! Here's a better view with some labels for you:

As for the lungs (and other dark parts of the xray) the reason its so dark is because there isnt anything preventing the actual radiation from hitting the xray plate!

Radiographs work by shooting beams of radiation through a patient onto a plate below. The reason we get the different shades of color is because of the things blocking the way. Bone blocks more beams, so it shows up as grey/white, whereas air doesnt block much at all and shows up black. Black in the intestines means there is gas. Fluid blocks some of them, which is why the bladder is gray.

Think of it like spraying a wall with water and someone standing in front of it with very loose clothing. Take the person away and you will get this big dry spot, with some wet bits here and there from where the water went through their clothes. Thats essentially how xrays work!

[bored-vet-student]

Butt

Really cool Frog/toad x-ray, slightly weirded out by how few bones there are ...

[ask-a-vetblr]

I’ve been meaning to ask my regular vet this for the longest time but I honestly keep forgetting.

A little back story - Back in 2019 there was an incident where my adopted Lab/pit mix got into my sewing kit (he’s got some separation anxiety that I’m still working on) and wrecked it. My immediate thought when I saw it after getting home was “there is no way he did not swallow a needle.”

Cue me calling and then rushing him to the emergency vets for X-RAYS. Twenty minutes after they bring him back, the vet comes out and goes, “Did you know your dog had been shot?”. She proceeded to show me the X-RAYS, which did not show a needle, but rather multiple pellets from his neck/shoulder area down to his hips.

They are currently not affecting him in any way, but I’ve always been mildly curious as to why, if he had been taken to a vet before the wounds had healed up (my current theory is either his previous owner didn’t care or that the shelter he initially came from didn’t have the resources necessary to do so), they would not have removed the pellets after it happened? He would have been less than a year old at the time.

Thank you in advance. 💕

gettingvetted here.

Pellets are not exactly easy to remove. They would require a lot of digging (resulting in a lot of tissue damage), multiple x-rays, and hours of surgery, all for something that typically heals well on its own and doesn't cause further problems (such as in your dog). It would be like trying to remove a microchip after you've placed it. Especially being so rural in my practice, it is very common to see birdshot in a dog or cat when I'm taking x-rays for other reasons. Even when it causes problems (such as breaking a bone for example) we still don't usually specifically take the bullets out. We might amputate a broken leg which would naturally remove the bullet, but if we decided to plate or pin the leg instead, we wouldn't go digging for it.

[missingpaintbrushes]

I got an old radiograph light box from work and got the idea to try and make fake xrays of creatures that don’t exist like jackalopes or dragons! So I’ve got my sketch done and got it transferred to a sheet of plastic to mimic xray film but I’m not sure how to go about making it look like film… I first thought markers but I think they might look too streaky, I’m playing around with the idea of paint but with the plastic being flexible I’m afraid it’ll flake or crack, idk we’ll see! Any ideas or tips would be appreciated!