Abstract
Objective—To determine short- and long-term complications in clinically normal dogs after endoscopically assisted gastropexy.
Design—Prospective case series.
Animals—24 dogs.
Procedures—Endoscopically assisted gastropexy was performed on each dog. Dogs were evaluated laparoscopically at 1 or 6 months after surgery to assess integrity of the gastropexy. Long-term outcome was determined via telephone conversations conducted with owners ≥ 1 year after surgery.
Results—Mean ± SD gastropexy length was 4.5 ± 0.9 cm, and mean duration of surgery was 22 ± 5 minutes. One dog had a partially rotated stomach at the time of insufflation, which was corrected by untwisting the stomach with Babcock forceps. Two dogs vomited within 4 weeks after surgery, but the vomiting resolved in both dogs. Four dogs had diarrhea within 4 weeks after surgery, which resolved without medical intervention. In all dogs, the gastropexy site was firmly adhered to the abdominal wall at the level of the pyloric antrum. Long-term follow-up information was available for 23 dogs, none of which had any episodes of gastric dilatation-volvulus a mean of 1.4 years after gastropexy.
Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—Endoscopically assisted gastropexy can be a simple, fast, safe, and reliable method for performing prophylactic gastropexy in dogs. At 1 and 6 months after gastropexy, adequate placement and adhesion of the gastropexy site to the body wall was confirmed. Such a procedure could maximize the benefits of minimally invasive surgery, such as decreases in morbidity rate and anesthetic time. This technique appeared to be suitable as an alternative to laparoscopic-assisted gastropexy.
