Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Sep 28;8(10):209.
doi: 10.3390/vetsci8100209.

Perioperative Outcome in Dogs Undergoing Emergency Abdominal Surgery: A Retrospective Study on 82 Cases (2018-2020)

Aida Fages  1   2 , Carme Soler  2   3 , Nuria Fernández-Salesa  2 , Giuseppe Conte  4 , Massimiliano Degani  1 , Angela Briganti  1
Affiliations

Perioperative Outcome in Dogs Undergoing Emergency Abdominal Surgery: A Retrospective Study on 82 Cases (2018-2020)

Aida Fages et al. Vet Sci. .

Abstract

Emergency abdominal surgery carries high morbidity and mortality rates in human medicine; however, there is less evidence characterising the outcome of these surgeries as a single group in dogs. The aim of the study was to characterise the clinical course, associated complications and outcome of dogs undergoing emergency abdominal surgery. A retrospective study was conducted. Dogs undergoing emergency laparotomy were included in the study. Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify variables correlated with death and complications. Eighty-two dogs were included in the study. The most common reason for surgery was a gastrointestinal foreign body. Overall, the 15-day mortality rate was 20.7% (17/82). The median (range) length of hospitalisation was 3 (0.5-15) days. Of the 82 patients, 24 (29.3%) developed major complications and 66 (80.5%) developed minor complications. Perioperative factors significantly associated with death included tachycardia (p < 0.001), hypothermia (p < 0.001), lactate acidosis (p < 0.001), shock index > 1 (p < 0.001), leukopenia (p < 0.001) and thrombocytopenia (p < 0.001) at admission, as well as intraoperative hypotension (p < 0.001) and perioperative use of blood products (p < 0.001). The results of this study suggest that mortality and morbidity rates after emergency abdominal surgery in dogs are high.

Keywords: dogs; emergency; laparotomy; perioperative complications.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

References

    1. Smith M., Hussain A., Xiao J., Scheidler W., Reddy H., Olugbade K., Jr., Cummings D., Terjimanian M., Krapohl G., Waits S.A., et al. The Importance of Improving the Quality of Emergency Surgery for a Regional Quality Collaborative. Ann. Surg. 2013;257:596–602. doi: 10.1097/SLA.0b013e3182863750. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Al-Temimi M.H., Griffee M., Enniss T.M., Preston R., Vargo D., Overton S., Kimball E., Barton R., Nirula R. When is death inevitable after emergency laparotomy? Analysis of the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database. J. Am. Coll. Surg. 2012;215:503–511. doi: 10.1016/j.jamcollsurg.2012.06.004. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Saunders D.I., Murray D., Pichel A.C., Varley S., Peden C.J. Variations in mortality after emergency laparotomy: The first report of the UK Emergency Laparotomy Network. Br. J. Anaesth. 2012;109:368–375. doi: 10.1093/bja/aes165. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Tengberg L.T., Cihoric M., Foss N.B., Bay-Nielsen M., Gögenur I., Henriksen R., Jensen T.K., Tolstrup M.B., Nielsen L.B. Complications after emergency laparotomy beyond the immediate postoperative period—A retrospective, observational cohort study of 1139 patients. Anaesthesia. 2017;72:309–316. doi: 10.1111/anae.13721. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Howes T.E., Cook T.M., Corrigan L.J., Dalton S.J., Richards S.K., Peden C.J. Postoperative morbidity survey, mortality and length of stay following emergency laparotomy. Anaesthesia. 2015;70:1020–1027. doi: 10.1111/anae.12991. - DOI - PubMed