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: 36 dogs and 20 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 3 dogs, 7 cases with intestinal tumors, 3 cases were ultrasonographically examined for assessing gastropexy site. 2 cases with suspected stomach foreign bodies, 2 cases with necrosed intestine, 2 cases suffered focal stomach lesion of which 1 case suffered gastritis and the other demonstrated ulcer with mild thickening of the stomach wall. 1 case suffered intestinal intussusceptions, 2 cases with perforated intestine. 1 case suffered volvulus nodosus and 1 case was ultrasonographically normal and suffered melena. Exploratory laparotomy showed blackish colouration of the caecum. In cats, 10 out of 20 cases were with intestinal lymphoma, 2 cases were diagnosed with ileus. 1 case demonstrated stomach wall thickness, 1 case suffered intestinal abscess, 1 case suffered intussusceptions, 2 cases suffered intestinal perforation, 1 case suffered megacolon following operation for anastomosis. The last 2 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 33% from all cases. While cases with foreign bodies in the stomach and intestine were 14 out of 36 dogs with a rate of 38.8%. In cats lymphoma (10 cases) constituted the mostly encountered affection with an incidence rate of 50%.