The Surgical Treatment of Cholelithiasis in Cats: A Study of Nine Cases

Abstract

Nine cats that had surgical treatment for obstructive cholelithiasis were reviewed to evaluate clinical signs, diagnostic test results, and outcome after surgery. Common clinical signs included progressive vomiting (9/9), dehydration (9/9), anorexia (6/9), icterus (5/9), and lethargy (4/9). Five cats had a cholecystectomy performed, one cat had a cholecystotomy, and three cats had a biliary diversion procedure. Four of the cats that had a cholecystectomy had no recurrence of vomiting or anorexia. The majority of cats (7/9) had multiple choleliths, which were radiopaque and most commonly composed of calcium carbonate. Seven cats were diagnosed with cholangiohepatitis, and four of these cats did not need long-term medical therapy. Most cats (7/9) survived long term postsurgery (mean, 21 months; median, 24 months) without additional medical therapy, while the two cats with concurrent hepatic lipidosis died. Cholecystectomy appeared to have low morbidity with good clinical success.

Bacterial Culture Results from Liver, Gallbladder, or Bile in 248 Dogs and Cats Evaluated for Hepatobiliary Disease: 1998–2003

“…Our results support previous observations from smaller case series, 3,4,[6][7][8][9][10]12,13 in which the predominant bacteria isolated from the hepatobiliary system of dogs and cats were of enteric origin. Bacteria that were identified as contaminants in this study primarily were those associated with the skin, mostly coagulase-negative staphylococci, and probably were the result of collectionor specimen-handling contamination.…”

“…For example, cholelithiasis, which is strongly associated with bacterial infection in both human and veterinary patients, 7,8,17,27,28,30,31 was found in only 2 animals in our study. Both had positive biliary cultures, but the number of patients was too small to evaluate this factor for predictive significance.…”

“…A similar list of bacterial isolates has been compiled from cats and dogs diagnosed with a broader range of hepatobiliary diseases. [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] However, the overall prevalence and antimicrobial susceptibility of the different bacterial species cultured has not been evaluated in a large group of cases. Therefore, the purpose of this retrospective study was to characterize the results of biliary and liver cultures from dogs and cats evaluated for hepatobiliary disease at a veterinary teaching hospital, including the prevalence of positive cultures, the identity and antimicrobial susceptibility of common isolates, and clinical predictors of positive bacterial culture results.…”

“…1,2 In veterinary patients, bacteria have been isolated from cases of suppurative cholangitis, hepatic abscesses, cholecystitis, choledochitis, and choleliths. [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] In humans with biliary disease, certain conditions have been associated with a higher incidence of infection, such as cholelithiasis, cholecystitis, previous biliary-tract surgery, or other causes of obstructive jaundice. [14][15][16][17][18] In these studies, the most commonly identified biliary pathogens in human patients are enteric bacteria (Escherichia coli, Enterococcus spp., Klebsiella spp., Bacteroides spp., and Clostridium spp).…”

Colecistectomia videolaparoscópica em felino com colelitíase

“…Em felinos, EICH & LUDWIG (2002), em estudo realizado com nove animais com obstrução de ducto cístico, em cinco deles, foi realizada a colecistectomia convencional e essa técnica mostrou-se também efi caz do ponto de vista clínico e cirúrgico. Contudo, a abordagem videolaparoscópica para tratamento de colecistite em gatos ainda é pouco explorada (STEDILE, 2006), mas deve ser estudada, pois poderá estar associada às vantagens descritas para humanos.…”