Long lost rubber ball found in dog’s stomach
Background… A 13 year old dog had a rubber ball in his stomach for 11 years! The dog drank a barium solution that helped the vet find the ball in the stomach. A 13 year old dog had a rubber ball in his stomach for 11 years! The dog drank a barium solution that helped the vet find the ball in the stomach.
The middle abdomen is incised
The stomach is identified
Stomach is isolated for surgery
The foreign body is grasped through the stomach wall. The incision is made through the stomach wall and into the stomach cavity.
The corroded foreign object is identified, grasped with forceps and removed from the stomach. There appeared to be no infection present
The deep mucosal layer of the stomach is sutured with an inverting continuous suture. In this image half of the mucosal layer has been sutured.
The outer muscular layer is sutured using simple interrupted sutures. The stomach is highly vascular and heals rapidly.
Ball is removed
Cross section of ball
The incision is closed with buried sutures. The corroded rubber ball was 1 1/2 inched in diameter. The lining of the stomach actually appeared to be normal.