Postoperative Care

After surgery, the incision (suture site) must be protected until healing is complete.

The cow wearing an Elizabethan collar/ make shift collar to prevent rubbing or traumatizing the
surgery site.

The cow should be housed separately in a clean area with adequate space and given food and
water at lib. The site should be checked often.

Oral antibiotics and analgesic/ NSAIDS may be prescribed if the eye or orbit was infected and for
any pain felt at the time of and after surgery. If the animal is painful after the surgery, pain
medication may be prescribed for a few days. NOTE: Consideration should be taken into
consideration for the use of drugs, especially in food animals.

There is usually some mild postoperative swelling at the site of the surgery, and if the eye was
inflamed prior to surgery, then some bruising may also be noted in the area.

If allowed it and takes comfort from it, warm wet compresses may be applied to the surgery site
twice daily for five minutes.

Occasionally it may have a little bloody discharge from the nostril on the same side as the
surgery. These signs usually resolve within two to four days. The sutures are typically removed
in seven to 10 days.

Carefully monitor after the surgery. If there is any sign of persistent swelling, if there is any
oozing from the stitches, if the animal acts as if he is not feeling well, then notify the vet. Most
animals are fully recovered from the surgery and are acting normal within 48 to 72 hours.

Animals with one eye enucleated do not seem to be handicapped with respect to their vision,
their mobility, or their ability to function. Animals with one eye usually behave in a completely
normal fashion.
Aftercare
Because the eye is surrounded by bones, it is much easier for patients to tolerate enucleation than the
loss of a lung or kidney. When surgery is performed under general anesthesia, patients do not feel or
see anything until they regain consciousness. Additional local anesthesia is often given at the end of the
surgery so that the patient will have the least pain possible when waking up in the recovery room . Most
patients have a headache for 24–36 hours after surgery that is relieved with two regular headache
medication pills, such as Tylenol, every four hours. A firm pressure dressing is maintained for four to six
days, such oral antibiotics are given for one week; and steroids, as prednisone, adjusted according to
patient status, are given three times daily for four days. The socket is evaluated after removal of the
pressure dressing. If the edema has disappeared, the sutures are removed. Topical antibiotics are
applied four times daily for four weeks.
Risks
Enucleation surgery is very safe; only rarely do patients experience major complications. Complications
include the following: bleeding, infection, scarring, persistent swelling, pain, wound separation, and the
need for additional surgery. Complications may also occur with the orbital implants routinely used with
patients who have undergone enucleation. Among these is the risk of infection.