34th Annual Scientific Meeting proceedings

Objectives:

To compare the incidence of complications, specifically postoperative bile peritonitis, following application of a single Endoloop ligature to the cystic duct during cholecystectomy with traditional multi-ligature closure methods in dogs.

Methods:

Clinical records were reviewed retrospectively for dogs that had a cholecystectomy performed at a single veterinary referral centre between January 2015 and August 2024. Data recorded included patient signalment, indication for cholecystectomy, cystic duct ligation method, concurrent procedures performed and intra-operative and postoperative complications. Minimum follow-up of 4 weeks was required, unless death occurred sooner.

Results:

Fifty-one dogs that underwent cholecystectomy were included. Thirty-nine patients had multi-ligature cystic duct ligation (ML) and 12 had application of a single Endoloop ligature (EL) to the cystic duct. No EL patients required additional ligatures due to bile leakage intra-operatively and none developed postoperative bile peritonitis. Four ML patients developed postoperative bile peritonitis, confirmed by abdominocentesis, at a median of 3.5 days postoperatively (range: 0.5-4 days). Three patients were euthanised and one was medically managed with good outcome. The overall incidence of post-operative bile peritonitis was 8% and was not significantly different between groups (p=0.56). 

Conclusions:

Application of a single Endoloop ligature to the cystic duct during cholecystectomy in dogs was an effective technique in this cohort, without increased incidence of postoperative bile peritonitis.