Surgical Correction of Complicated Buccal Food Impaction in a Four-Year Old Kurdish Ewe

Case description- A four-year-old Kurdish ewe was referred to the Animal Clinic of Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Razi University (Kermanshah, Iran) with cheek swallowing, infection wound and impaction of the food in right cheek for several weeks. Clinical findings- Clinical examination revealed stretching and laxity of the cheek muscles with buccal food impaction and skin infection of this area because of previous unprofessional incision by her owner. No dental or other oral cavity abnormalities were observed on examination or palpation after manual expelling of the impacted feed and irrigation of the mouth cavity. Treatment and outcome- After treatment of the animal by Intramuscular penicillin-streptomycin solution (20000 IU + 10 mg/kg bw) and flunixin meglumine (2 mg/kg bw) for three days; the defect was surgically repaired under sedation and local infiltration anesthesia. No post-surgical complications were encountered during three months post-surgery. Clinical relevance- This report describes a complicated buccal food impaction in a ewe and some causes of this disorder and its surgical correction, which may be the first written report in the sheep in Iran. It could be hypothesized that dietary causes, may be a contributing factor to the development of buccal food impaction in this case.