Hematoma on neck

Hi, My 11yr old husky x Damoyed had a hematoma on his neck a few weeks ago whixh was frained by a vet. Since then he hasn't been for a walk, not that he's bothered and i've discouraged rough play. This morning, i've noticed the area getting bigger and it feels exactly like it did before. Could anyonw give some insight as to what could cause this? There are no breaks to the skin.

Hello!  A haematoma is a bleed that happens beneath the skin, causing a lump.  A common place for these would be the ear, where there is cartilage on the inside and the skin tightly attatched to the outside, so should a bleed happen, the blood builds up between the skin and the cartilage and the lump is clearly visible.... (more to follow)

So why should this happen in the neck?  Vets sometimes see heamatomas in the neck as a mild complication of having a blood sample taken, when the vein has been pierced by a needle, the needle removed and blood leaks through the hole made by the needle, from the vein into the surrounding tissues.  This is more common in the case of indirect 'hits' of the vein (eg if the dog wriggles as the needle goes in and the needle hits the vein at an oblique angle) or if there is, for example, a clotting problem so that the blood doesn't clot as quickly, but leaks into the surrounding tissues instead.  If this has happened in a patient belonging to yourself, I would expect your vet to be happy to discuss it.

Needle-induced heamatomas generally repair very quickly and easily with time in a dogs' neck.  If there is no immediate history of an IV injection, other causes may need to be explored.  These may include tumours, clotting difficulties, bite wounds (need to see a vet d/t infection) etc.  You don't mention at what stage you are regarding seeing a vet, but if a vet hasn't seen the haematoma already, we would advise it.  Best of luck and please let us know what is found!

My apologies for not fully answering the question, but without knowing why the haematoma occured, it is difficult to tell what will prevent it from recurring.  It is well worth asking your vet for more information.

He has seen a vet who precribed antibiotics and mdloxicam. After several weeks, it went away. Tgere is no sign of any trauma to the area and the cause was undetermined

If antibiotics were given, it sounds as though the vet thought that there may have been infection (eg an abscess) rather than simply being blood in there (haematoma). Anyway, lovely to hear that treatment was successful.

The antibiotics were precautionary and ehile the swelling did go down, it has returned. I'm left wondering why and if there is anything sinister that dhould be ruled out

It is not unusual for cavities that have been drained of fluid to refill but it sounds as though further investigation, or at least explanation to yourself, is needed.