Evaluation of Morgan’s pocket technique in the treatment of nictitans gland prolapse in dogs

Abstract

: Nictitans gland prolapse (NGP), also known as third eyelid gland prolapse or cherry eye disease, is an important eye problem that should be treated as soon as possible in dogs. Although many surgical methods have been described, there is no consensus on the most effective technique. In this study, it was aimed to evaluate the characteristics of cases and clinical outcomes of Morgan’s pocket technique in the treatment of dogs with NGP. In this context, the characteristics of the cases were examined in 25 dogs diagnosed (29 eyes) with NGP. Clinical results, recurrence, and complications were evaluated in 17 dogs (20 eyes) who underwent surgical treatment with Morgan’s pocket technique. The most common breeds were Terrier (28%) with 7 cases and Cane corso (20%) with 5 cases. Most of the patients were male (56%) by sex and less than 1 year (66%) by age. The disease was diagnosed in the acute stage in 9 cases (36%) and in the chronic stage of 16 cases (64%). The success rate of 17 patients (20 eyes) without recurrence was 94.12% (16 cases). The recurrence rate was 5.88% and the complication rate was 5.88%. In conclusion, it is advantageous to use Morgan’s pocket technique in NGP cases in dogs because of its easy applicability and high success rate. Due to the low recurrence and complication rates, its reliability is high.