Presentation
Presented with 3-day history of vomiting. There may have been some yarn in her stool today.
Patient Data
The stomach is moderately fluid filled for a dog with persistent vomiting. On both lateral projections, there is a single dilated bowel loop (fluid filled) just dorsal and parallel to the spleen, which is presumed to be duodenum. The spleen is mildly enlarged, and the remainder of the small intestine is normal in diameter. There is no evidence of foreign material in the pylorus or bowel plication to suggest linear foreign body.
Impression:
Mechanical proximal small intestinal obstruction.
Case Discussion
Jejunal foreign body was removed by enterotomy (2 x 2 cm portion of plastic ball).
This case has the classic appearance of a high obstruction, with a fluid-filled stomach and proximal duodenum. Most distal obstructions involve more bowel loops, have more gas in the small intestine, and less fluid in the stomach. The foreign body was not visible in this dog. Persistently segmentally dilated GI tract in the face of vomiting indicates obstruction.
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