🔍 Key Findings
- Roux-en-Y procedures were successfully completed in all 11 cases (6 dogs, 5 cats), despite case complexity and disease severity.
- Median survival post-discharge was longer in cats (365 days) vs. dogs (82 days), with better outcomes in non-neoplastic vs. neoplastic disease (192 vs. 5 days).
- Complication rate was high, with septic peritonitis, dehiscence, and cardiac arrest as leading causes of postoperative death; mortality rate = 36%.
- Dehiscence rate was 8.6% (2 of 23 anastomoses), considered lower than typical rates for GI anastomoses in high-risk patients.
- Feeding tubes (gastrostomy/jejunostomy) were used in all cases, enabling early nutritional support and stomach decompression.
- Postoperative nausea and vomiting were common but mostly self-limiting; managed with metoclopramide, cisapride, and antiemetics.
- Choledochojejunostomy was preferred when common bile duct was dilated, offering a favorable size match and potentially reducing bile leakage.
- Roux-en-Y reduced typical Billroth II complications (e.g., bile reflux, afferent loop syndrome, dumping syndrome), with none observed in discharged patients.
