engleski

Chewed bones in canine stomach - treatment options and outcome

Gastrointestinal foreign bodies are commonly encountered in veterinary practice and may present with a variety of clinical gastrointestinal signs. The most common clinical signs of gastric foreign body are vomiting and sometimes diarrhea. Dog owners are often not sure if bones are food, part of the usual diet, a titbit or strictly forbbiden. The aim of the study was to show the incidence and importance of bone findings in canine stomachs. This retrospective study included dogs treated at the Small Animal Clinic, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, during a four year period. The inclusion criterion was a radiologically visible shadow of bones in the stomach. Foreign bodies were observed as a single bone shadow and as chewed bones with larger number of sharp fragments. The results showed 105 dogs with bones in their stomachs of which 63 (60%) had chewed bones and 42 (40%) had a single bone. In 39% of the cases dogs were of mixed breeds and a high incidence was recorded in: Golden Retrievers, Pekingese, Shi Tzu, Labrador Retrievers, German Shepherds and Cane Corso. In 44 dogs (41.9%) bones in the stomach were an incidental finding, while 61 dogs (58.1%) presented with gastroinestinal symptoms. Conservative treatment was used in 54 (88.5%), surgery was performed in 5 (8.2%) and endoscopic removal was administered in 2 dogs (3.3%). Complications after treatment appeared in 6 dogs. Lethal outcome due to bones in the stomach was not reported, although 6 dogs that were involved in the study died from some other cause unrelated to bone findings. An additonal retrospective study about the incidence, treatment and outcome of bones as foreign bodies in canine intestines is needed. However, veterinarians should pay attention to bones presenting as foreign bodies in the stomach, considering the frequency of occurence even if in these cases complicatons are negligible and the outcome is usually favorable.

chewed bones, stomach, treatment, dog

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