Ericka Duggan wrote 06/04/2012 03:21 PM Preventive Bloat Surgery (gastropexy) #362447 - 06/04/2012 03:21 PM
Ericka Duggan Webboard User Reg: 04-18-2010 Posts: 76 Loc: California Offline	Since getting my Mal pup I have been thinking about the Preventive Bloat Surgery. Now with all the bloat stories on the board ( so glad everyone is ok ) I realized someone here may have some input. I first heard about the preventive surgery when the government began doing all the military K9's at Lackland. I don't know if they still do it. I also have a client that is a sports vet and she strongly recommends its. Breeders seem to be unsure of how they feel. Some say they wonder if there is a genetic component . They would not breed a dog that had bloated ( these are manly great dane breeders ). So if they did the surgery it would hide a problem in a dog they were using for breeding. My pup is a sport dog ( mondio, agility, herding, ect ) but even "pets" bloat. Normally I am very conservative medically. Looking forward to what everyone thinks.
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Connie Sutherland wrote 06/04/2012 03:23 PM Re: Preventive Bloat Surgery (gastropexy) [Re: Ericka Duggan ] #362450 - 06/04/2012 03:23 PM
Connie Sutherland Moderator Reg: 07-13-2005 Posts: 31571 Loc: North-Central coast of California Offline	Two major factors come to my mind when talking about this: General anesthesia has come a LONG way, as we have discussed so many times here (mainly with regard to no longer hesitating to do full dental workups, but it applies here too), and bloat stats out of Purdue indicate a 1300% incident increase in this country over the last three decades. My own feeling about this this has changed a lot as I've seen so many terrible stories on every webboard as well as in my immediate circle in the last decade. This is a good topic, IMO. Bloat and torsion, or gastric dilatation-volvulus (GDV), is second only to cancer on the canine top-killer list in this country.
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Michael_Wise wrote 06/05/2012 12:03 AM Re: Preventive Bloat Surgery [Re: Ericka Duggan ] #362458 - 06/05/2012 12:03 AM
Michael_Wise Webboard User Reg: 07-10-2006 Posts: 4454 Loc: Arkansas Offline	How effective is the surgery? Are there enough dogs that have had the surgery out there to compile some kind of meaningful stats on success rate?
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Ben McDonald wrote 06/05/2012 02:57 AM Re: Preventive Bloat Surgery [Re: Ericka Duggan ] #362462 - 06/05/2012 02:57 AM
Ben McDonald Webboard User Reg: 05-25-2011 Posts: 439 Loc: Lawton, OK Offline	I would get it done for the simple fact for what kind of work he does. Which imo, increases the risk. I had it done to my Great Dane, and she came through fine. I had her spay and hip xrays done at the same time too, so only had to put her under once. Bloat is so horrible, I couldn't imagine not having it done to prevent it. More especially if I thought there was an increased chance it could happen. Ask anyone here that it's happened to, very scarey stuff. Here's some stats - they aren't good. http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_bloat.html Cassy & Leo enjoying a nap.
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Lee_Reicheld wrote 06/05/2012 08:51 AM Re: Preventive Bloat Surgery [Re: Ericka Duggan ] #362470 - 06/05/2012 08:51 AM
Lee_Reicheld Webboard User Reg: 01-21-2009 Posts: 430 Loc: Michigan Offline	Is there any information about the average cost of the surgery? What about the best/minimum age to have it done?
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Ericka Duggan wrote 06/05/2012 10:51 AM Re: Preventive Bloat Surgery [Re: Lee_Reicheld ] #362478 - 06/05/2012 10:51 AM
Ericka Duggan Webboard User Reg: 04-18-2010 Posts: 76 Loc: California Offline	There have been some small studies done: http://avmajournals.avma.org/doi/abs/10.2460/javma.2002.221.1576?journalCode=javma I have been trying to find stats from Lacklands military dog program. I know all the females that come through have the procedure along with getting spayed. It seems some of the males have it there other have it done at other clinics. That is thousands of dogs. They are all over a year old. I am sure cost would differ wildly from vet to vet. I will be getting a quote and option from my regular vet ( that I feel is a great surgeon ), as well as a board certified veterinary y surgeon that I have used for horrible bone breaks in my rescue dogs. I will let you know how that turns out.
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Kristin Muntz wrote 06/05/2012 12:26 PM Re: Preventive Bloat Surgery [Re: Ericka Duggan ] #362488 - 06/05/2012 12:26 PM
Kristin Muntz Webboard User Reg: 05-09-2012 Posts: 746 Loc: Offline	My first thoughts on this were that any preventative surgery done on the abdomen must be extremely risky, for humans as well as dogs. After looking at it further and seeing that there is a laproscopic method for gastropexy, I feel that a high risk breed/group would probably benefit if an experienced surgeon is available, given the high rate of bloat in certain groups of dogs (I did not find a study corroborating it, but it was stated on one site that the incidence of bloat in dogs over 99 lbs is 20%.) If I personally was told that I had a 1 in 5 chance of developing a painful and often fatal condition, and a minorly invasive surgery could help prevent it, I'd strap myself to the surgery table.
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Jodi Moen wrote 06/05/2012 01:07 PM Re: Preventive Bloat Surgery [Re: Ericka Duggan ] #362491 - 06/05/2012 01:07 PM
Jodi Moen Webboard User Reg: 12-28-2010 Posts: 799 Loc: USA Offline	My questions with it would be if the procedure is done (and my understanding is this is suturing the stomach to the adjacent tissue to hold it in place) with an active dog what is the likliehood the sutures could be ripped out after say, a very energetic play period, episode of vomiting,would it effect a dogs ability to vomit increasing the chance of aspiration, etc. I know that even "permanent" sutures degrade over time so at some point the sutures would have to be re-placed. Its an interesting question My animals are not "like" family, they ARE family.
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Connie Sutherland wrote 06/05/2012 01:44 PM Re: Preventive Bloat Surgery [Re: Michael_Wise ] #362496 - 06/05/2012 01:44 PM
Connie Sutherland Moderator Reg: 07-13-2005 Posts: 31571 Loc: North-Central coast of California Offline	Quote: Michael_Wise How effective is the surgery? So far, some yield from a quick search for stats: http://www.akcchf.org/canine-health/your-dogs-health/caring-for-your-dog/prophylactic-gastropexy.html http://veterinarymedicine.dvm360.com/vetmed/Medicine/ArticleStandard/Article/detail/318532 "... dogs with GDV that do not undergo a gastropexy have recurrence rates of more than 70% and mortality rates of 80%" http://www.petplace.com/dogs/gastric-dilatation-volvulus/page5.aspx "Most dogs that die from complications of GDV will do so within the first four days post-operatively. The mortality rate is approximately 15% for dogs treated surgically. The mortality rate is more than 30% for dogs treated surgical{ly} for which gastric resection is required. With surgery, recurrence rates are less than 10%.'
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Ben McDonald wrote 06/05/2012 11:05 PM Re: Preventive Bloat Surgery [Re: Jodi Moen ] #362526 - 06/05/2012 11:05 PM
Ben McDonald Webboard User Reg: 05-25-2011 Posts: 439 Loc: Lawton, OK Offline	Quote: Jodi Moen My questions with it would be if the procedure is done (and my understanding is this is suturing the stomach to the adjacent tissue to hold it in place) with an active dog what is the likliehood the sutures could be ripped out after say, a very energetic play period, episode of vomiting,would it effect a dogs ability to vomit increasing the chance of aspiration, etc. I know that even "permanent" sutures degrade over time so at some point the sutures would have to be re-placed. Its an interesting question It's a little bit more then just sutures. http://www.vetsurgerycentral.com/gdv.htm Cassy vomits just fine, most especially after eating too much grass. Sometimes I wonder if she thinks that she is a cow. I moo at her and she just looks at me with a "Your stupid" look. With the way thats it's done, I wouldn't be worried about it ripping. Another name for it is the belt loop gastropexy. Edited by Ben McDonald (06/05/2012 11:05 PM) Edit reason: Added more info. Cassy & Leo enjoying a nap.
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