Abordagem transcirúrgica e acompanhamento pós-operatório de um canino com um shunt esplênico-azigos / Transurgical approach and postoperative follow-up of a canine with a splenic-azygos shunt

ABSTRACT

Background: The most frequent hepatic circulatory abnormality in dogs is the portosystemic shunt, characterized by an atypical deviation of the hepatic blood flow, that causes the blood that should be drained by the liver through the portal vein to be diverted to another systemic vein, as a result of the presence of the anomalous vessel. This diversion leads to reduced hepatic blood flow and, consequently, organ dysfunction, along with the accumulation of many toxins in the circulation, for instance, ammonia and short-chain fatty acids. The main objective of this paper is to Report the clinical case of a canine female diagnosed with an extrahepatic portosystemic shunt and submitted to surgical treatment using an ameroid constrictor ring in the obstruction of the anomalous vessel. Case A canine Shih-Tzu, at the age of 1 year and 8 months, was brought to the Veterinary Hospital presenting a history of emesis and smaller body structure than other animals from the same litter. The animal had been diagnosed with portosystemic shunt at age 1 month, by means of complementary biochemistry, ultrasonography and computed tomography examinations. The latter identified the anomalous vessel, which originated from the left gastric vein and was inserted into the azygos vein in the portohepatic region. During the surgical intervention, after median pre-retro-umbilical celiotomy, a calibrous vessel was identified, coming out of the junction of two splenic veins and a gastric vein that penetrated the diaphragm and connected to the azygos vein in the thorax before flowing into the vena cava