Perioperative outcomes in dogs and cats undergoing pancreatic surgery: 81 cases (2008‐2019)

Abstract

Objectives To identify and describe the type and frequency of perioperative factors in dogs and cats undergoing pancreatic surgery under referral care. Methods Medical records from a small animal surgical referral practice were retrospectively reviewed to identify dogs and cats that underwent pancreatic surgery between 2008 and 2019. Inclusion criteria included complete medical record, histopathology results and follow‐up of at least 14 days postoperatively or until death. Variables collected included signalment, history, presenting complaint, preoperative diagnostic results, intraoperative complications, surgical findings/procedures, postoperative complications and histopathology results. Cases were excluded if pertinent information or a histopathology report was missing from the medical record. The frequency of these variables was reported. Results There were 81 client‐owned animals identified that met the inclusion criteria (57 dogs and 24 cats). The most common pancreatic procedure performed in dogs was partial pancreatectomy 63.2% (36/57) and in cats was pancreatic biopsy 62.5% (15/24). The most common histologic diagnosis in dogs was pancreatic islet cell carcinoma 50.9% (29/57) and in cats was pancreatitis 41.7% (10/24). The overall mortality rate was 13.6% (11/81), with a 10.5% (6/57) mortality rate in dogs and a 20.8% (5/24) mortality rate in cats. Clinical Significance In this series of dogs and cats, pancreatic surgery under referral care carried a low to moderate mortality rate.

Successful surgical management of pancreatic torsion in a 3‐month‐old Bernese Mountain dog without evidence of long‐term pancreatic dysfunction

“…The majority of studies evaluate survival and prognosis regarding the neoplastic cause for pancreatectomy (Del Busto et al., 2020; Hixon et al., 2019; Trifonidou et al., 1998). There was a reported 10% mortality associated with pancreatectomy primarily reported in a population of pancreatic malignancy (Wolfe et al., 2022). There is a reported 10% incidence of postoperative pancreatitis in the acute phase and 24.2% reported vomiting (Hixon et al., 2019).…”