Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 11, 2026
Surgical Closure of Equine Abdomen, Prevention, and Management of Incisional Complications
Published on: May 10, 2024
Perioperative outcome in dogs with hemoperitoneum: 83 cases (2005-2010)
Cassie N Lux1, William T N Culp, Philipp D Mayhew
1Department of Surgical and Radiological Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California-Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA. lux.cassie@gmail.com
Objective:
To characterize the clinical course of dogs with hemoperitoneum in the perioperative setting and to determine risk factors that may affect short-term outcome.
Design:
Retrospective case series.
Animals:
83 client-owned dogs.
Procedures:
The medical records of dogs with hemoperitoneum that underwent surgery between 2005 and 2010 were reviewed. Data were analyzed to determine risk factors associated with perioperative outcome. The perioperative period was defined as the time from admission to the hospital for treatment of hemoperitoneum until the time of discharge or euthanasia (within the same visit).
Results:
13 of 83 (16%) dogs died or were euthanized in the perioperative period. The median hospitalization time for surviving dogs was 2 days (range, 1 to 5 days). The requirement for a massive transfusion with blood products was a negative prognostic indicator for hospital discharge. The source of bleeding was isolated to the spleen in 75 of 83 (90%) dogs; a splenic source of hemorrhage was determined to be a positive predictor of survival to discharge from the hospital.
Conclusions And Clinical Relevance:
In the present study, factors associated with death and failure to be discharged from the hospital included tachycardia, a requirement for massive transfusion with blood products, and the development of respiratory disease secondary to suspected pulmonary thromboembolism or acute respiratory distress syndrome. The presence of disease within the spleen was positively associated with survival to discharge. Surgical intervention for treatment of hemoperitoneum, regardless of etiology, resulted in discharge from the hospital for 70 of the 83 (84%) dogs in this series.
