Comparison of inverting and appositional methods for anastomosis of the small intestine in cats

Three anastomoses (single layer inverting, apposition with catgut sutures and with polyglycolic acid sutures) were made in the small intestines of six cats. Two cats each were euthanased three, 14 and 30 days after surgery. With the inverting technique the mean lumen diameter was only 4.72 mm while with the appositional technique it varied from 8.09 mm (gut) to 8.78 mm (polyglycolic acid). Expressed as percentages of adjacent intestinal diameters, the inverting, catgut apposition and polyglycolic acid apposition techniques resulted in lumen diameters of 42.2 per cent, 87-9 per cent and 77.7 per cent respectively.