Pathogenetic and Therapeutic Aspects of Torsion of the Canine Stomach

Abstract

SUMMARYIn dogs that had survived attacks of gastric torsion, X‐ray examination after subsidence of the acute symptoms usually disclosed retarded emptying of the stomach with normal or, in some cases, hyperactive motility, apparently due to pyloric sphincter dysfunction. On the basis of these findings it is hypothesized that torsion should be regarded as the final stage of a chronic dilatation of the stomach stemming from the deranged emptying mechanism.Intensive nonsurgical management of the acute phase, with evacuation of the stomach via trocarization and repeated introduction of a stout gastric tube, appears superior to primary surgical treatment insofar as the early results are concerned. The abovementioned roentgenologic observation has led the authors to try, in the hope of preventing recurrences, operative correction of the disordered emptying mechanism by means of gastrojejunostomy or pyloroplasty. As yet the series is too small and the follow‐up times too short for therapeutic evaluation of these surgical procedures.