# Preventive surgery for gastric torsion?



## ramsker (Feb 10, 2013)

Our "puppy" Ranger (he has really grown and just looks like a big dog now) is coming up on 7 months old and has lost all his puppy teeth . . . so we're right at the point where the vet said we should think about neutering. On our last visit, he mentioned that we should think about getting a procedure done while he's already under to proactively mitigate gastric torsion, which he says has been known to strike GSDs. He described it as basically suturing the stomach to the dog's side so it cannot twist.

I had never heard of such a thing, but this is our first GSD and there isn't a $$ issue with getting it done. I'd rather do it than be potentially sorry later. But is this a legitimate concern and something that is common to do--and have others here had that procedure done? Scare tactic from the vet??

Appreciate any thoughts/advice.


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## Gwenhwyfair (Jul 27, 2010)

It's called a gastropexy. Had it done on Ilda about a year ago (laproscopically which is less invasive), a breeder very familiar with her pedigree advised bloat ran in her lines so I decided to go ahead with it while having her spay done.

Preventing Torsion When Bloating with Prophylactic Gastropexy | AKC Canine Health Foundation


As with all surgeries there are pros and cons to it.

Please search the health forum for the terms 'gastropexy' or for short 'pexy' and there are some really indepth discussions.






ramsker said:


> Our "puppy" Ranger (he has really grown and just looks like a big dog now) is coming up on 7 months old and has lost all his puppy teeth . . . so we're right at the point where the vet said we should think about neutering. On our last visit, he mentioned that we should think about getting a procedure done while he's already under to proactively mitigate gastric torsion, which he says has been known to strike GSDs. He described it as basically suturing the stomach to the dog's side so it cannot twist.
> 
> I had never heard of such a thing, but this is our first GSD and there isn't a $$ issue with getting it done. I'd rather do it than be potentially sorry later. But is this a legitimate concern and something that is common to do--and have others here had that procedure done? Scare tactic from the vet??
> 
> Appreciate any thoughts/advice.


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## ramsker (Feb 10, 2013)

Thank you!!!!!


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## Gwenhwyfair (Jul 27, 2010)

You're welcome 

If you do decide to have the laproscopic gastropexy make sure the vet has a few of the laproscopic surgeries under his/her belt first.

Also, just be aware that this thread may be moved to the health forum by the mods, so don't worry if you don't see it here after a time....it'll probably be in the health forum.


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## arycrest (Feb 28, 2006)

Unless your pup has a retained testicle that requires abdominal surgery, a regular neuter doesn't require "opening the dog up" either with a regular surgical procedure or as Gwenhwyfair said, a laproscopic procedure. 

FWIW, if it were my dog I'd have the gastropexy done because I have had dogs who have had stomach torsion ... I was lucky and they all survived, but it's an expensive emergency and hard on the dog too.

Also, there are a lot of threads about the pros and cons of early spay/neuter procedures on dogs ... you might want to read them before making a final decision about getting your puppy neutered now.

GOOD LUCK with whatever you decide to do!!!


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## JaimeZX (Jun 12, 2012)

We had our girl's stomach tacked when she was spayed. The incision was quite a bit bigger than with just a spay, but she was essentially back to normal after a few days, and there's a lot of peace-of-mind in knowing she's essentially "immune" to torsion now.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

How hard is it on the dog if its done on its own? I would consider it, but mine is already spayed and I don't like putting them under.


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## JaimeZX (Jun 12, 2012)

Well, you're right. It's still anesthesia and his/her activity will have to be limited for several days afterwards, plus two weeks (give or take) for the incision to heal over...


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

i've never neutered or had gastropexy performed. if i were going
to neuter or spay my dog would be 2 yrs old or older.


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## Gwenhwyfair (Jul 27, 2010)

It depends, Ilda was 'off' for about a month but part of that was we found out she doesn't tolerate nsaids very well.

I think it depends on the dog, younger/older tolerance of anesthesia/pain and such.

If done laproscopically (as in Ilda's case) it's two small incisions, one in the belly (same place as for a spay) and one on the flank.

They shave ALOT of hair for the surgery (belly and up the flank) so when I first saw her after surgery it surprised me to see so much hair gone. She looked like she was wearing a one piece bathing suit down her back for awhile!

Also gastropexies can fail (the stomach tack fails). So even if it's done on our dogs we must remain vigilant about bloat.




llombardo said:


> How hard is it on the dog if its done on its own? I would consider it, but mine is already spayed and I don't like putting them under.


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## marbury (Apr 3, 2012)

It's a very painful recovery for the dog. I have a male who was opened up fully, had some intestine removed and his pyloris cut. We were right there at the tummy and I asked my surgical vet if she could tack his stomach while he was open anyway. She told me that she could if I wanted but did not recommend it. I declined.

We had a senior chocolate lab boarding with us who had a torsion bloat a year before his stay and was tacked. While at our facility he bloated again. The only advantage of the tack was that we could easily pass a tube into his stomach to relieve the pressure. He bloated again every 12 hours despite small meals and gas-x and had needle expressions accordingly. His tacks made no difference in his treatment after the initial tube.


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## Gwenhwyfair (Jul 27, 2010)

Yeah, I think what it does is buy you some time to identify the bloat symptoms and get the dog into the vet sans an actual torsion occurring.

After torsion the problem is at whole new level of criticality.





marbury said:


> It's a very painful recovery for the dog. I have a male who was opened up fully, had some intestine removed and his pyloris cut. We were right there at the tummy and I asked my surgical vet if she could tack his stomach while he was open anyway. She told me that she could if I wanted but did not recommend it. I declined.
> 
> We had a senior chocolate lab boarding with us who had a torsion bloat a year before his stay and was tacked. While at our facility he bloated again. The only advantage of the tack was that we could easily pass a tube into his stomach to relieve the pressure. He bloated again every 12 hours despite small meals and gas-x and had needle expressions accordingly. His tacks made no difference in his treatment after the initial tube.


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## JaimeZX (Jun 12, 2012)

Indeed. But seems like if the tack failed you'd have problems right there already, and as long as it doesn't fail then torsion is pretty much ruled out.

Obviously nothing is foolproof, but the odds of torsion (not necessarily bloat) would be dramatically reduced with the tack.

Still, probably best to get it done when the dog is already going to be under, rather than scheduling it as a separate procedure.


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## marbury (Apr 3, 2012)

I'm more worried about the painful recovery. Their stomach does not naturally sit against their ribcage. You're tugging at lots of odds and ends to tack it down and that's extremely uncomfortable for a few weeks after surgery until things settle into their new place. It's not a surgery that typically has complications, but it just seems like an awfully unnecessary surgery to do if there is no concern with bloat predisposition in the dog's lines. If sire, littermate to sire, dam, littermate to dam, littermate to dog etc had bloated I'd consider it, but really... it's not as common as in Great Danes.

I've never had a dog tacked before. My opinions about pain on recovery are from our specialist surgical veterinarian who has been practicing for decades. Perhaps other vets have had different experiences.


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## JaimeZX (Jun 12, 2012)

FWIW, my girl only took her painkillers for a few days. She was essentially her normal, silly, playful self in less than a week. (And I am *very* sensitive to my animals' discomfort.)


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## marbury (Apr 3, 2012)

JaimeZX said:


> FWIW, my girl only took her painkillers for a few days. She was essentially her normal, silly, playful self in less than a week. (And I am *very* sensitive to my animals' discomfort.)


Good to hear! Phew! Glad it isn't as bad as Dr. Harris makes it sound.


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## JaimeZX (Jun 12, 2012)

Yeah. I was more worried about keeping her calm - I was terrified she was going to tear one of the stitches or incisions from playing!


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## Renofan2 (Aug 27, 2010)

Had this done on my one female when she was 8.5 years old. She kept bloating - stomach never flipped but she would start bloating 4 x per year. We tacked it to reduce chance of flipping. I have since switched to raw and have had no more ER runs for her. She recovered from the tacking very quickly. If needed I would do so again on my other dogs. Her mother also bloated at 10 but I was able to get her to the vet in time. I lost her six months later to a mass on her spleen.


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## ramsker (Feb 10, 2013)

Thanks for the feedback, everyone! Sounds like it's a worthwhile procedure to have done for some peace of mind as long as the dog will be under anyway. A small expense relatively speaking vs how I would feel if I did not do it and something happened down the road.


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## Gwenhwyfair (Jul 27, 2010)

Yup! The vet that did Ilda's sugery was very clear about that point. It does not prevent bloat but it does help prevent torsion in most cases.

BTW - I have heard a handful of stories of dogs still having torsion even with the tack still intact. It probably depends on the dog and the skill of the surgeon who performed the tack. 





JaimeZX said:


> Indeed. But seems like if the tack failed you'd have problems right there already, and as long as it doesn't fail then torsion is pretty much ruled out.
> 
> Obviously nothing is foolproof, but the odds of torsion (not necessarily bloat) would be dramatically reduced with the tack.
> 
> Still, probably best to get it done when the dog is already going to be under, rather than scheduling it as a separate procedure.


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## Anitsisqua (Mar 25, 2012)

I think I'm going to have this done on Gabe. His father bloated and died recently, so when I take him in to be neutered (after he turns 2), I think I'll have them perform his gastropexy, umbilical hernia repair, and neuter all in one. I feel sorry for the poor boy, as his recovery is sure to be uncomfortable, but it's better than losing him.


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## Roemly's Mama (Apr 3, 2013)

Good info here. I was thinking about getting this done for my boy when I get him neutered-both his testicles are inside so he'll be getting opened up. Might be worth it to do so to prevent the torsion.


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## gsdsar (May 21, 2002)

I had this recently done on my 9 yo female. She was bloating multiple times a day( not an exageration). The recovery was tough. She was very sore and sedate for a few days. But she is doing well now. 

That said, we did lots of diagnostics and switched to RAW, and she us on lots of meds to keep her gut moving. I work for a vet, and it was still expensive. But the cost of the Sx is irrelevant to the price if not doing it. She is the only dog I have pexied. But I am considering it with my puppy. I have no plans on neutering him, but when I sedate him for his OFA I may have him tacked then. 


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## Rainer (Feb 15, 2012)

Rainer bloated with torsion about two months ago at 16 months old. The vet that performed the surgery said he was the youngest dog that he's ever performed an emergency tack on. Fortunately, I caught it in time (thanks to all the info about bloat on this forum!). He recovered very easily, if it wasn't for his shaved sides - no one would have been able to tell he had a major surgery. I always thought it only happened in older dogs...I think if the dog will already be under and you can afford it, it may possibly save you a lot of money and worry in the future. It's a very expensive surgery and it killed me seeing my boy that terrified and in pain.


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## JackandMattie (Feb 4, 2013)

If my dog bloated, and required vet intervention, I would tack at that point. 

But I'm old school. I don't do annuals on myself. We go to the docs when we have trouble. 

I don't neuter, either, before adulthood. And actually, I've never neutered/spayed unless required for rescue. 

I also don't take aspirin for a headache. I get up and work through it. My dogs do, as well. Maybe I spent too much time on the west coast, lol! Water, exercise, and diet. Leave the rest up to God and Mother Nature. 

We're all genetic mishaps, yet nobody suffers. 


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## ramsker (Feb 10, 2013)

Thought I'd post an update. We had the surgery done on Monday (in combination with the neutering and the microchip--and a nail clipping--might as well take advantage of the anesthetic). Ranger did great and he was feeling very chipper after just a couple days. He's basically acting back to normal and prancing around. The incision for the pexy is not very big and won't ever notice it when the hair grows back. I think that pexy piece only ran us $350 since he was already under--but I'll double check.

We did have a near-tragedy though. We picked him up that afternoon and he was doing just fine . . . the nurse noted that he still had a bandage on his leg from where the IV was placed and she said to just remove it that evening. I went to do that about 7:30 pm. Took the bandage off and there was a piece of gauze on there with a quarter-sized spot of dried blood. I thought about just leaving that and letting it fall off, since it was kind of "stuck" on his leg, but decided I should just take it off.

When I peeled it off, there was some blood running down his leg. No big deal, right, probably just peeled of the scab? Had a paper towel handy and put some pressure on it--but the towel was getting soaked. I pulled it away and now blood was free-flowing down his leg . . . and I mean a significant flow. I grabbed a rag and put pressure on the leg for several minutes with no luck stopping it. Yelled for my wife to call the vet, who had just closed but a vet and some nurses were still there. They told us to bring him right back in.

Loaded him up and got him to the vets. The leg was still bleeding badly and they were all kind of shocked/stumped. Once they got him in the operating room, they quickly found the problem . . . the needle from the IV catheter had broken off when they removed it and was still in his leg, so there was basically a tube sticking into the blood vessel and it would have just kept bleeding.

If I would have left the gauze on there or if he had just chewed off the bandage himself at some point, he could have easily bled out without us knowing. Needless to say, we are NOT thrilled that this happened (the vet office has a very good reputation) and the vet has been very apologetic and assured us that this had sparked a very detailed review with everyone in the office.

But anyway . . . Ranger is doing great and back to his normal self already.


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## RebelGSD (Mar 20, 2008)

You made a good choice. My boy had emergency surgery for bloat and we are fortunate that he lived.


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