Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Dog with severe bloody diarrhea diagnosed with vascular ectasia
By Daugherty, Megen A et al.·Published in Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association·2006·Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Diagnosis and surgical management of vascular ectasia in a dog.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
An 8-year-old male Golden Retriever was brought in for diarrhea that included black stools and fresh blood, which had been happening for 8 weeks and caused severe anemia. After an exploratory surgery and biopsies didn’t find the cause, an endoscopy revealed abnormal blood vessels in the colon, leading to a diagnosis of vascular ectasia. The dog underwent surgery to remove part of the colon and cecum, and within three days, the bleeding stopped. He recovered fully, with no further symptoms for 22 months after switching to a highly digestible diet.
People also search for: dog diarrhea with blood · Golden Retriever anemia treatment · vascular ectasia in dogs · dog surgery for intestinal bleeding
Abstract
CASE DESCRIPTION: An 8-year-old male Golden Retriever was evaluated because of an 8-week history of intermittent diarrhea with melena and hematochezia that were not responsive to medical treatment and resulted in severe anemia. CLINICAL FINDINGS: Exploratory celiotomy with intestinal and colonic biopsy revealed mild enterocolitis but did not result in diagnosis of the cause of melena and hematochezia. Endoscopy of the upper portion of the gastrointestinal tract and colonoscopy were performed. Multifocal areas of coalescing, tortuous mucosal blood vessels were observed in the cecum and all regions of the colon. A diagnosis of vascular ectasia (VE) was made on the basis of the endoscopic and histologic appearance of the lesions. TREATMENT AND OUTCOME: An ileorectal anastamosis was performed. Melena and hematochezia resolved within 3 days after surgery, and the anemia resolved within 6 weeks after surgery. Surgical resection of the cecum and colon and feeding of a highly digestible diet resulted in long-term (22 months) resolution of clinical signs. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Initial exploratory celiotomy with intestinal and colonic biopsy failed to reveal the VE lesions responsible for the melena, hematochezia, and anemia. Endoscopic evaluation was necessary for detection of the colonic VE lesions. Surgical resection of the cecum and colon and feeding of a highly digestible diet may result in a favorable outcome in affected dogs.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16978117/