Clinical features and outcomes of dogs with attempted medical management for discrete gastrointestinal foreign material: 68 cases (2018–2023)

Abstract OBJECTIVE To retrospectively describe clinical characteristics of canine gastrointestinal foreign bodies (GIFB) that were successfully and unsuccessfully managed conservatively. ANIMALS 68 client-owned dogs presented to the Texas A 95% CI, 0.32 to 0.66). Gastric dilation resolved in all success cases (n = 5 100%; 95% CI, 0.32 to 2.3) but did not resolve in any failure cases (13 0%). Small intestinal dilation resolved in all success cases (n = 13 100%; 95% CI, 0.53 to 1.7) but progressed in most failure cases (9 75%; 95% CI, 0.34 to 1.4). In the success group, 31 GIFB were nonlinear (96.9%; 95% CI, 0.66 to 1.4), while 1 was linear (3.1%; 95% CI, 0.001 to 0.17). In the failure group, 29 GIFB were nonlinear (80.6%; 95% CI, 0.54 to 1.16), while 7 were linear (19.4%; 95% CI, 0.08 to 0.4). Of the cases that elected surgery (n = 29 42.7%; 95% CI, 0.29 to 0.61), resection and anastomosis was performed in 3 cases (10.3%; 95% CI, 0.02 to 0.3). All cases that required resection and anastomosis were nonlinear GIFB. CLINICAL RELEVANCE Conservative management of GIFB provides a feasible treatment option and may be considered based on presentation, foreign body location, hemodynamic stability of the patient, diagnostic imaging, and type of foreign body.