Vol. 3, Issue 5, Part B (2018)

Author(s): Ilayaraja Selvaraj, Arun A Sha, Nithin K, Acharya PR and Pradeep R

Abstract: Like the trans-abdominal ultrasonography examination technique used to examine the visceral organs in the abdominal cavity, the non-cardiac trans-thoracic ultrasonography technique will help to examine the lungs. The lungs are located within the thoracic cavity of all mammals and are the only organs in the body to be filled with air under normal conditions. In the past, the belief was that the lung is not optimal for ultrasonography imaging because the aerated lungs creates insurmountable obstacles; therefore, people concentrated more on trans-abdominal, trans-rectal and trans-thoracic echocardiography. These methods became well established in human medicine and were gradually adopted into veterinary medicine as well. However, the ultrasonography examination of pulmonary system remained a grey area. Recent advancements and continued development in medical science has surmounted the previously thought impossible and has proven that ultrasonography is an excellent diagnostic model in regard to the anatomy of all mammalian species. Rantanen²³ was the first veterinarian to use the ultrasonography to diagnose pulmonary disease in horses, and successfully diagnosed pneumothorax in 1986. Following this discovery, awareness in the field increased and resulted in the establishment of the Bed side Lung Ultrasound Examination (BLUE) protocol in human medicine and the Vet-BLUE protocol in small animal veterinary medicine. However, these advanced technologies are not as well established or effectively utilized in wild animal medicine as they are in small animal veterinary practice globally, except for in a few research institutions and teaching universities. Therefore, adopting this advanced diagnostic procedure in wildlife is pertinent for providing the utmost care in these species. During the study, we were able to clearly document the examination of the pulmonary system of sloth bears by adopting the non-cardiac, trans-thoracic ultrasonography technique. This technique includes patient preparation, positioning, probe selection, and recording of the ultrasonography image to compare and interpret normal versus abnormal lung and its radiographs. Thus, we developed the BLUE protocol for bears (Bear’s-BLUE). The aim of this article is to disseminate the knowledge of sloth bear lung ultrasonography to wildlife veterinarians at field level, and to encourage the neophytes to adopt this practice and improve their diagnostic ability to provide better care to the animals and develop a more effective therapeutic plan.