Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Outcomes of dogs undergoing immediate or delayed surgical treatment for gastrointestinal foreign body obstruction: A retrospective study by the Society of Veterinary Soft Tissue Surgery.
- Journal:
- Veterinary surgery : VS
- Year:
- 2021
- Authors:
- Maxwell, Elizabeth A et al.
- Affiliation:
- Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences · United States
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
This study looked at how the timing of surgery affects dogs with a blockage in their intestines caused by swallowing something they shouldn't have. Researchers reviewed the medical records of 855 dogs treated at five different hospitals over ten years. They found that whether dogs had surgery right away or after a delay of more than six hours didn't change the overall outcomes, but dogs that had surgery later were more likely to have serious intestinal damage. Those who had immediate surgery were able to eat and go home from the hospital sooner. In the end, while the timing of surgery didn't affect survival rates, earlier surgery seemed to lead to less complicated procedures and quicker recovery.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate gastrointestinal injury and outcomes between dogs treated with immediate surgical intervention vs those treated with delayed surgical intervention for gastrointestinal foreign body obstruction (GIFBO). STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SAMPLE POPULATION: Client-owned dogs (n = 855) from five referral hospitals. METHODS: Medical records of dogs in which GIFBO had been diagnosed between 2007 and 2017 were reviewed for preoperative management, timing of surgery, intraoperative findings, postoperative management, outcome, and survival. Surgical intervention was classified as immediate when it occurred within 6 hours of presentation and delayed when it occurred >6 hours after presentation. RESULTS: Outcomes did not differ between dogs treated immediately (n = 584) or over 6 hours after presentation (n = 210). Intestinal necrosis and perforations were more common when surgery was delayed (P = .008; P = .019) but became nonsignificant after controlling for preoperative differences. Risk factors for necrosis and perforations included duration of clinical signs, increased lactate, linear foreign material, and timing of surgery. Enterectomies (P = .004) as well as the duration of surgery (P = .004) and anesthesia (P = .001) were increased when surgery was delayed. Immediate surgery was associated with earlier return to feeding (P = .004) and discharge from the hospital (P < .001); (5%) dogs in each group (n = 33 immediate; n = 11 delayed) either had a negative explore or the foreign body was milked aborally into the colon at the time of surgery. CONCLUSION: Although outcomes were not associated with surgical timing, the unadjusted prevalence of gastrointestinal injury and, thus, the requirement for complex surgical procedures was higher in the delayed group. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Earlier surgical treatment of stabilized dogs with GIFBO may involve fewer complex procedures and accelerate recovery.
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Search related cases →Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32979240/