Journal Club Tip
Re: end-to-end resection and anastomosis. From Culbertson 2021 Vet Surg - I found this paper really interesting. The limitation is that it is a cadaver study, so may not reflect the clinical situation. However the crux of what they found is that probing your anastomosis continuous suture line, for gaps, is a good way to diagnose/detect suture gaps. Gaps are a risk factor for dehiscence, so you want to check for gaps at the end of your repair (either with leak test, probing or both). With probing, if a hemostat falls into a hole/gap between your sutures, then your gap is too large. I liked this paper, because with time I have become more fussy about my anastomosis and enterotomy suture technique and I have subjectively seen a lower complication rate over time (hopefully as my technique has improved, with smaller or repaired gaps). Gaps can be repaired with a simple interrupted suture. I have started utilising this technique to check for gaps already.
Picture - this may look like a dog in a box, but it is actually the very messy process of performing a fluoroscopic swallow study with a barium mix.
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