Laparoscopic-assisted cystotomy for urolith removal in dogs and cats - 23 cases

This report describes the outcomes of a modified laparoscopic-assisted cystotomy for urolith removal in dogs and cats. Modifications of the original techniques included a temporary cystopexy to the abdominal wall, utilization of a laparoscope instead of cystoscope, and retrograde flow of saline in the bladder with pressurized saline. The medical records of 23 client-owned animals for which laparoscopic-assisted cystotomy was used for urolith extraction were reviewed. Twenty-six procedures were performed in 23 animals. There were intraoperative complications in 19.2% of cases leading to open conversion in 11.5%. Rate of complications directly related to the procedure was 11.5%. Four cases had documented urolith recurrence with a mean time to recurrence of 335 days.