felis - Articles
Intestine: foreign body – linear
Introduction
- Cause: string, fishing line, recording tape, tinsel are common foreign bodies in cat.
- Usually start as partial obstruction.
- Continued presence can lead to large sections of bowel becoming non-functional and essentially completely obstructed.
- Signs: vomiting Vomiting, melena.
- Diagnosis: history, physical findings and radiography.
- Treatment: surgery in most cases.
- Prognosis: guarded, particularly if chronic.
Presenting signs
- Vomiting.
- Anorexia.
- Depression.
- Weakness.
- Melena.
Age predisposition
- 1-3 years.
Pathogenesis
Etiology
- Ingestion of linear foreign body, eg needle and thread, string.
Pathophysiology
- A linear foreign body usually starts as a partial obstruction.
- Its continued presence in the bowel can cause large sections of the bowel to become non-functional and essentially become completely obstructed.
- Linear foreign body obstruction requires the object to become fixed somewhere cranial in the digestive tract.
- Typically the object is either looped around the base of the tongue or trapped at the pylorus → normal smooth muscle contraction of the small intestine propels the object aborally → damage to the mesenteric border of the bowel through which the foreign body passes.
- Continuation of peristalsis against the pressure of the fixed linear object will eventually result in a perforation of the intestine, with leakage and peritonitis quickly following.
- When lacerations occur, mortality increases dramatically.
Timecourse
- Days to weeks.
Diagnosis
Subscribe To View
This article is available to subscribers.
Try a free trial today or contact us for more information.
Treatment
Subscribe To View
This article is available to subscribers.
Try a free trial today or contact us for more information.
Prevention
Subscribe To View
This article is available to subscribers.
Try a free trial today or contact us for more information.
Outcomes
Subscribe To View
This article is available to subscribers.
Try a free trial today or contact us for more information.
Further Reading
Publications
Refereed papers
- Recent references from PubMed and VetMedResource.
- Bebchuk T N (2002) Feline gastrointestinal foreign bodies. Vet Clin North Am Small Anim Pract 32 (4), 861-880 PubMed.
- Barrs V R, Beatty J A, Tisdall P L et al (1999) Intestinal obstruction by trichobezoars in five cats. J Fel Med Surg 1 (4), 199-207 PubMed.
- Stack L B, Munter D W (1996) Foreign bodies in the gastrointestinal tract. Emerg Med Clin North Am 14 (3), 493-521 PubMed.