preventative stomach flipping surgery - Page 1

i live on a military post. when i went to the vet on post she recommended a preventative surgery that she said they do to all of their working dogs. they stitch the stomach to the side of the body so if can flip. have you heard of this, did u do it, what do you think about this type of thing

This is called a prophylactic gastropexy. Its intent is to keep the stomach from twisting if the dog bloats, hence giving him a better chance at survival.

The surgery is often suggested if the dog is having abodominal surgery for some other reason or in cases where GVD (bloat and torsion) runs in the lines.

One of our dogs has had part of his stomach attached to the abdominal wall during surgery to extract a foreign object. It will not prevent bloat but it has given me peace of mind. I can help him if he should bloat but I may not be able to get to a vet ER in time for bloat surgery. We've had dogs bloat with torsion. It is a terrible thing, enormously painful to the dog. There is, at best, a one hour window to get him into surgery and not all dogs survive even then.

There are pros and cons to doing it as an elective procedure. It's major surgery with all that entails: anesthesia, wound closure, recovery. It will prevent torsion of the stomach but not torsion of the spleen. The dog can stil bloat.

Our other GSD has not had the surgery but, if ever he has to have an abdominal procedure done, we would request a gastropexy at that time.

thx, yeah she said they normall due it when their already inside to spade them, thx for input

I had never heard of this (thanks Aqua for explaining) and would not do it do it for no reason.

Better to do prentative stomach flipping breedings.

Rik

Is this the same as tacking?  I haven't done it and won't unless my dog has a history of bloat or was already having some other surgery with the same area opened.

Yes VKGSDs it is what is referred to as 'tacking';   I have never run across it suggested on a
prophylactic basis, except I can see why it could be done at the same time as a spey.

The OP, however, reading his other posts, hopes to breed with his puppy bitch eventually;  so
he will not be having her neutered.  Whether this tacking op would be worth the anesthetic
risk or the money it will cost you, Supakamario, is something you would have to decide.

As you clearly do not know a lot about GSDs or GSD health issues yet, and as you don't seem
to (want to ?) communicate well with her WGSL breeder - so you could ask how much risk of Bloat /
GD&V there has been in the kennel's output, - it is anyone's guess, frankly, whether  she is
ever likely to have the torsion that would make it worth having the tack done, to minimise it.
German Showline bitches are not that deep in chest, so perhaps a bit less prone to getting Bloat
than some heavier types;  but nothing is certain.


By the way, if it was me that was thinking of getting this op. done, I certainly wouldn't do it until
she has reached her adult size...

There is also a 'home nursing' period to take into account, when you have to keep the dog as
quiet and rested as you can, and that was difficult with an adult dog who'd been tacked, a youngster
would be more difficult.

I would say most if not all MWD's have this procedure done.  Also, many sport dogs have it done as well.   Any dog can bloat and this procedure makes sense for anyone who works a dog, especially a large deep chested dog.  I have been to two vet classes this past week by MWD vets.  One on Canine Tactical Trauma care (2nd time I have taken this course) given by vets and vet techs who treat MWD's on the battlefield in Iraq and Afghanistan.  The second class was by another MWD vet who is also a University Veterinarian.  Both recommended the procedure, there is little down side to it and a lot to gain.  Two very small incisions and that's it.  

Like I said Slamdunc, I - coming from mainly wgsl territory - hadn't heard of this being done on a preventative
basis, at all.  The only cases I knew of were of dogs who had the stapling done BECAUSE they had bloated;
so they were already cut open.  Sorry if I misled anyone, if for working & war dogs and done for prophylactic
reasons it really only takes a couple of small incisions.  
Mind you, I still think even after such minor surgery you'd be told to 'cage rest' & lead-walk only, for a few days
at least, because you would want to make sure the dog didn't somehow dislodge the 'tack'??  So what I said
about preferring not to have to do it for a 4mth puppy would still apply.  Dunno what the OPs time constraints
are, either;  he's been offered it by a Base vet, but is moving on somewhere soon.

My old german shepherd had her spleen twist and take the stomach with it.  I caught is very early and the stomach had not ballooned much at all.  The emergency vet I use had met her before a couple of times, so he knew her general condition.  At the time they removed the spleen did a biopsy (no cancer) and tacked the stomach.  This vet does a number of these surgeries every week.  He said I caught the bloat early, no damage was done, but due to her age (10) he thought it was best to remove the spleen so as not to have problems again.  She was fully healed in less than 30 days and was back to 100% performance in about 60 days, but she was old, I'm sure a young dog would bounce bacj very fast.  My guess is that its about as invasive and painful as a human appendectomy surgery, so not really that hard on the dog.  I too have asked many vets about preventative stomach tacking and it seems like a great idea, IF, they are already doing something else in there.  There is also the issue of the spleen twisting or needing to be removed in old age, so prevenative tacking in a healthy dog, not needing to have another procedure done may not be worth it.

As for the staples poping out due to excessive activity, my old girl had an x-ray about a year later for something else and they were are intact.  She still does competitive obedience and tracking, so not nearly as active as IPO

We have had torsion twice in two of our big males.  One died, we saved the second one.  Our vet has told us not to worry about the gastropexy except for large males with a big chest.  This gives the room needed for the stomach to flip.