Minimally invasive options for intestinal surgery

Key Points

Intestinal exploratory laparoscopy can be performed safely in dogs and cats provided that the minimally-invasive surgeon is thorough and possesses sound decision making ability Laparoscopic-assisted intestinal surgery is ideal for a subset of dogs and cats suspected of inflammatory bowel disease or alimentary neoplasia and for dogs and cats with jejunal segment obstruction due to a foreign body Contraindications to laparoscopic intestinal surgery include: septic peritonitis, linear foreign body and intestinal adhesions.

Minimally invasive gastrointestinal (GI) surgery is indicated when information gathered by visualization and/or sampling of the gastrointestinal tract will help with therapeutic decision making in veterinary patients. Gastrointestinal disease in dogs and cats is common and the specific indications for diagnostic and therapeutic GI laparoscopy are not well defined but are increasing. Gastrointestinal diseases for which laparoscopy is reported for diagnosis and treatment include: foreign bodies, neoplasia, inflammatory, immune-mediated and infectious processes. Dogs and cats with obstructive or nonobstructive intestinal disease can benefit from exploratory laparoscopy. [...]