Sore neck after blood draw.

Dr. Marie replied:

Oh, I am sorry to hear that Cody is not doing well after his blood draw.

This is definitely not a normal thing to have happen after having blood drawn from a jugular vein. I can think of a couple of things that could be happening. It is possible that somehow Cody has had some damage to his neck. It is unusual though for this to happen after a blood draw.

When we draw blood from the jugular vein, we do need to hold the head and neck in an extended position. It certainly is possible that he struggled a bit and had needed some more firm restraint. I cannot say, however, that I have ever had a dog have this degree of discomfort after even vigorous restraint.

This makes me worry if there was a pre-existing problem with his neck. It is possible that he had an intervetebral disc in the neck that was on the verge of bulging. Then, the restraint or positioning for the blood draw could have done some damage. If this is the case, it may also be that there is simply some muscle spasms in the neck area.

It will be tough to know what to do from here. It sounds like Cody will need to be examined by one of the vets to determine how serious the problem is. He may need some xrays. The difficult thing, though, is that it is sometimes hard to see disc problems in the neck on an xray. Cody may need to have some anti-inflammatory medicine for a few days. But, if he is on medication for dermatomyositis, then anti-inflammatory medication may be contraindicated.

With all of that being said, the difficulty in opening his mouth is not normally something we see with neck pain. It is something, however, that can be seen with a flareup of dermatomyositis. A flareup can be triggered by some type of trauma, so it is possible that if he struggled for his blood draw that this triggered the condition. But, I do not believe that neck pain is usually a sign of dermatomyositis. So, it is tough to know what is going on.

Is Cody on prednisone or pentoxyfilline at all right now? If so, the vets may decide to increase the dose for a while to help him get through this. Or, if not, he may need to go back on it.

This is a tough case. I know it must be frustrating to you (and to Cody). I think it is unlikely that the vet staff has done anything wrong.

I wish I could give you a more definitive answer...I hope he is feeling better soon.

Dr. Marie.


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Dr. Marie replied:

You are very welcome Sharon. Hopefully he will be much better in the morning!