01/09/2025
Rosie, a curious one-year-old black Labrador, found trouble late one day when she tore into a packet of ibuprofen urgently needed by her owner, who had just returned from the human emergency hospital. By the time her mum discovered the mess, Rosie had ingested four times the toxic dose for dogs.
Rosie was rushed to her local vet, Petstock Vet Gregory Hills, who quickly induced vomiting and referred her to the 24/7 Emergency Department at SASH Western Sydney. There, Dr Yan Yu (Emergency Vet) with assistance from Dr Alex Kennedy (Specialist in Internal Medicine) recognised the danger of ingesting such a high dose: kidney failure, gastrointestinal ulcers, even coma.
Time was critical. After consulting with Dr Bing Zhu, Specialist in Internal Medicine and one of the few Australian vets trained in hemodialysis, it was decided that therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) would be in Rosie's best interest. This is a procedure that removes the drug from Rosie’s bloodstream to minimise the adverse effects of toxicity. SASH North Ryde is currently the only veterinary hospital on the east coast of Australia equipped with the technology and specialist team to perform TPE in-house.
Rosie was transferred to SASH North Ryde that same day, where Dr Bing led the procedure with Reagan, Emergency & Critical Care Nurse. A specialised machine removed the ibuprofen contaminated plasma and replaced it with clean plasma. Given the urgent nature of the case, the procedure started at 8 PM, ending at 4 AM the next morning, during which Rosie was able to have a snooze on a comfortable mattress. The entire process was handled smoothly and expertly by SASH’s Internal Medicine and Emergency & Critical Care teams across two hospitals.
Rosie remained under close watch, with Internal Medicine Resident Dr Marcia Coradini joining her care. Within days, she was back home, playful, hungry, and happy. A week later, her bloodwork showed that she had no signs of kidney failure.
