Ultrasonographic Findings of Most Common Surgical Disorders of Gastrointestinal Tract in Dogs and Cats

Objective: To evaluate the efficiency of ultrasound for diagnosis of different gastro-intestinal surgical affections in dogs and cats. Design: Clinical study. Animals: ۳۶ dogs and ۲۰ cats. Procedures: Ultrasonography was performed using two real-time ultrasound machines. The entire abdomen was examined ultrasonographically while the animal was in dorsal recumbency. Percutaneous ultrasound-guided aspiration and microcore automated biopsy were performed. Results: Twelve dogs suffered from Ileus due to parasitic infestations and obstructed foreign bodies, full stomach wall thickening in ۳ dogs, ۷ cases with intestinal tumors, ۳ cases were ultrasonographically examined for assessing gastropexy site. ۲ cases with suspected stomach foreign bodies, ۲ cases with necrosed intestine, ۲ cases suffered focal stomach lesion of which ۱ case suffered gastritis and the other demonstrated ulcer with mild thickening of the stomach wall. ۱ case suffered intestinal intussusceptions, ۲ cases with perforated intestine. ۱ case suffered volvulus nodosus and ۱ case was ultrasonographically normal and suffered melena. Exploratory laparotomy showed blackish colouration of the caecum. In cats, ۱۰ out of ۲۰ cases were with intestinal lymphoma, ۲ cases were diagnosed with ileus. ۱ case demonstrated stomach wall thickness, ۱ case suffered intestinal abscess, ۱ case suffered intussusceptions, ۲ cases suffered intestinal perforation, ۱ case suffered megacolon following operation for anastomosis. The last ۲ cases suffered intestinal foreign body and parasitic infestation. Conclusions and Clinical Relevance: The incidence of ileus or obstruction of the intestine with different foreign bodies constituted ۳۳% from all cases. While cases with foreign bodies in the stomach and intestine were ۱۴ out of ۳۶ dogs with a rate of ۳۸.۸%. In cats lymphoma (۱۰ cases) constituted the mostly encountered affection with an incidence rate of ۵۰%.

Keywords:

Ultrasonography , Surgical Disorders , Gastrointestinal , dogs , Cats