To Cheryl Cato: >What she suspects happened is that the left adrenal gland shifted... and >adhered itself to the vena cava. She couldn't find the right adrenal at all Cheryl - I think what she was looking at was the right adrenal. The right adrenal is normally adherent to the vena cava. I have never heard of adrenals shifting around inside the abdominal cavity - they're held in place pretty well. Sometimes it's not easy to find the adrenals. >In the process of doing the partial adrenalectomy - she nicked the vena >cava. She says she stopped all the bleeding and sutured it. This happens not infrequently during removal of the right adrenal due to its close proximity with the vena cava. Problems are fairy uncommon when this happens. If she had nicked an artery, then there may have been a problem, as a result of the high blood pressure in arteries. However, veins are low-pressure vessels, and if they are sutured well, they won't leak. >What now? How will I know if Binky starts to have problems with the vena >cava suture? She won't stand a chance, will she? And there's also the >chance that not enough of the adrenal was removed, and her problems persist If there is a problem, and Binky doesn't bleed out into the abdomen before you notice there is something wrong, you would probably notice extreme lethargy and pale gums and footpads. then you would get her to the vet as soon as possible. As far as the incomplete adrenalectomy - sometimes you don't have to take out the whole thing to reverse the signs. At any rate - in a month or so, the vena cava will be as good as new, and you can go back in and get the rest of the adrenal. Concerning the liver biopsy - if it looked good, it probably is good. >I'm dying..... what have I done?! You did what was best for Binky - never second guess that. There was a small problem in surgery - nicked vessels happen all the time - at any rate - that's the surgeon's fault, not yours. There's no reason to beat yourself up over this one. Bruce Williams, DVM, DACVP Chief Pathologist, AccuPath Dept. of Veterinary Pathology [log in to unmask] Armed Forces Institute of Pathology [log in to unmask] [Posted in FML issue 1444]