Intestinal volvulus in a German Shepherd Dog
In my experience these can be outwardly quite deceptive. The degree of abdominal distention may not be pronounced.
This patient presented as an ‘acute abdomen’ with haematemesis. On ultrasonography, the stomach was mildly dilated with fluid but normally-positioned and not gas-filled.
Transverse plane view of the stomach from a point on the midline caudal to the xiphisternum
Whereas dogs with small intestinal obstruction due to foreign bodies, for example, the stomach is often very dilated.
The spleen is also pretty unremarkable in the present patient. Not displaced and not engorged. Gastric dilation/volvulus looks unlikely.
In contrast, the whole intestine is massively distended with gas and fluid. What’s more, there is no normal-sized small bowel. Following dilated loops, I was unable to find a point of obstruction.
Mid-abdomen. Massively dilated loops of small bowel.
The clincher is the appearance of the mesenteric root. The mesenteric vein and artery can be identified between the jejunal lymph nodes. In this case they have no discernible flow on power Doppler and, on 2D, they appear thrombosed.
Sadly, as is usually the case, the outcome was not positive.
