1. Long lost rubber ball found in dog’s stomach

2. 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.

3. The middle abdomen is incised

4. The stomach is identified

5. Stomach is isolated for surgery

6. The foreign body is grasped through the stomach wall. The incision is made through the stomach wall and into the stomach cavity.

7. The corroded foreign object is identified, grasped with forceps and removed from the stomach. There appeared to be no infection present

8. 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.

9. The outer muscular layer is sutured using simple interrupted sutures. The stomach is highly vascular and heals rapidly.

10. Ball is removed

11. Cross section of ball

12. 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.