SouthPaws Associates Assist National Zoo Veterinarians

Dr. Bud Siemering was awakened at 7 am on Saturday, March 13, by a call from
Dr. Lucy Spellman, staff veterinarian at the National Zoo. The two year old,
25 lb. baby gorilla had a hole in its abdominal cavity and a 6 cm of omentum
was protruding from the wound. Dr. Siemering was asked to perform the
surgery while Dr. Spellman performed anesthesia. This very valuable animal
was anesthetized and taken to the veterinary hospital at the zoo, where Dr.
Siemering repaired the wound. Two distal inferior ribs were separated at
their costochondral junction. The abdominal wall adjacent to the ribs had a
wrent in it 5 cm long. The stomach was easily visualized. The protruding
omentum was amputated. The wound was free of any foreign material and was
very clean, however, the skin edge was slightly irregular. The peritoneum
and muscle layers were closed with PDS. The skin was closed with
subcuticular 4-0 PDS. The cause of this injury is not known, but it has been
determined this was not a bite wound. Recovery from anesthesia was
uneventful back in the gorilla house, and the baby continues to do well.

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