Surgical management of a digital mast cell tumor in a geriatric mixed-breed female dog
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29244/avl.10.1.1-2Keywords:
dog, geriatric, digital mast cell tumor, digit amputation, surgeryAbstract
Digital mast cell tumours (MCTs) in dogs present a surgical challenge because their acral location often limits the achievement of adequate oncologic margins. This report describes the clinical presentation, surgical management, and histopathological confirmation of a digital MCT in an geriatric dog. A 15-year-old mixed-breed female dog weighing 7.6 kg was presented with a mass in the interdigital region of the limb. Clinical examination revealed that the dog remained active, with no obvious abnormalities in posture or gait. Because digital mast cell tumors (MCTs) are difficult to manage surgically owing to limited tissue for adequate margins, surgical excision was selected. Intraoperatively, the mass was found to extend around digit IV, requiring complete excision with digit amputation. Histopathological examination confirmed the presence of a mast cell tumour with infiltrative neoplastic mast cell proliferation. Postoperative management included wound cleansing, modified Robert Jones bandaging, amoxicillin-clavulanate, prednisolone, and topical hypochlorous acid-based wound care
References
Abrams BE, Putterman AB, Ruple A, Wavreille V, Selmic LE. 2021. Variability in tumor margin reporting for soft tissue sarcoma and cutaneous mast cell tumors in dogs: A systematic review. Veterinary Surgery. 50(2):259-272. https://doi.org/10.1111/vsu.13539 | PMid:33331059
Grassinger JM, Floren A, Müller T, Cerezo-Echevarria A, Beitzinger C, Conrad D, Törner K, Staudacher M, Aupperle-Lellbach H. 2021. Digital lesions in dogs: a statistical breed analysis of 2912 cases. Veterinary sciences. 8(7):136. https://doi.org/10.3390/vetsci8070136 | PMid:34357928 PMCid:PMC8310350
Halsey CH, Thamm DH, Weishaar KM, Burton JH, Charles JB, Gustafson DL, Avery AC, Ehrhart EJ. 2017. Expression of phosphorylated KIT in canine mast cell tumor. Veterinary Pathology. 54(3):387-394. https://doi.org/10.1177/0300985816688943 | PMid:28129097
Klahn S, Dervisis N, Lahmers K, Benitez M. 2022. Evaluation of tumor grade and proliferation indices before and after short-course anti-inflammatory prednisone therapy in canine cutaneous mast cell tu-mors: a pilot study. Veterinary sciences. 9(6):277. https://doi.org/10.3390/vetsci9060277 | PMid:35737330 PMCid:PMC9227510
Macedo TR, de Queiroz GF, Casagrande TA, Alexandre PA, Brandão PE, Fukumasu H, Melo SR, Dagli ML, Pinto AC, Matera JM. 2022. Imatinib mesylate for the treatment of canine mast cell tumors: as-sessment of the response and adverse events in comparison with the conventional therapy with vinblastine and prednisone. Cells. 11(3):571. https://doi.org/10.3390/cells11030571 | PMid:35159380 PMCid:PMC8834544
Scase TJ, Edwards D, Miller J, Henley W, Smith K, Blunden A, Murphy S. 2006. Canine mast cell tumors: correlation of apoptosis and proliferation markers with prognosis. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine. 20(1):151-158. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1939-1676.2006.tb02835.x | PMid:16496935
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 CC-BY-SA

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
All articles published in this journal are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).
This license permits use, distribution, reproduction, and adaptation in any medium, including for commercial purposes, provided the original work is properly cited, a link to the license is given, and any changes made are indicated. Any derivative work must be distributed under the same license or a compatible license.




