Feasibility Study of Laparoscopic Gastrostomy Tube Placement in Beagle Dogs

Abstract

Aim of this study is demonstrate the feasibility of Laparoscopic gastrostomy (LG) tube placement in dogs by comparing with percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) tube placement, based on operative time, complications and gastro-peritoneal adhesion evaluation. Eight intact male beagle dogs were used in this study. Tri-Funnel Replacement Gastrostomy tube (Bard Inc., USA) of 20 Fr was used for LG technique and PEG kit (Ponsky “Pull” PEG Kit ® , Bard Inc., USA) with soft silicone retention dome consisting of a 20 Fr gastrostomy tube was used. Feeding via gastrostomy tube was performed in two weeks, maintenance energy requirement (MER) divided into 3 separate feeding. LG and PEG were evaluated at intraoperative, postoperative and postmortem period. Mean operative time for the PEG group was significantly shorter when compared with the LG group (p < 0.05). Successful maintenance of gastrostomy tube was confirmed in all dogs. Gastric and peritoneal wall adhesions were formed successfully in each group. The mean adhesion length (AL) and width (AW) were significantly larger in LG group compared with in PEG group (p < 0.05). The mean adhesion distance (AD) was not significantly different between two groups (p = 0.182). Consequently, LG is an effective minimally invasive, safe and easy to perform technique for providing enteral nutritional support in dogs.