Intestinal transit time is delayed by artificial sphincters after massive enterectomy in dogs

Artificial sphincters were created in three groups of dogs after the resection of 87.5 percent of the intestine in each animal. Intestinal transit time was measured after 6 weeks by observing the passage of a radiopaque medium through the animals' intestinal tracts. No statistically significant differences were found between the intestinal transit times of dogs with one artificial sphincter and control animals. In dogs with two artificial sphincters there was a delay in the radiologically monitored intestinal transit time that was statistically significant compared with that of the control group.