Case Study

Intestinal foreign body in a 3 year old FS Boston Terrier

A 3-year-old FS Boston Terrier dog was presented for persistent vomiting over the previous 2 days. The physical exam revealed a mildly painful abdomen and slight dehydration. The blood chemistry and CBC were normal except for a mildly elevated lipase. A urinalysis was not performed. The patient was NPO 24 hours prior to the sonogram.

A 3-year-old FS Boston Terrier dog was presented for persistent vomiting over the previous 2 days. The physical exam revealed a mildly painful abdomen and slight dehydration. The blood chemistry and CBC were normal except for a mildly elevated lipase. A urinalysis was not performed. The patient was NPO 24 hours prior to the sonogram.

DX

Intestinal foreign body

Sonographic Differential Diagnosis

Gastric stasis, duodenal stasis, duodenal foreign body. Mid small intestinal obstruction with 4 x 2cm foreign body and low grade pancreatitis.

Image Interpretation

Intestinal obstructive pattern with a 4 x 2cm mildly echogenic object in the small intestine. The intestine proximal to the object was hyper peristaltic typical of an acute obstructive pattern. The foreign body is followed by empty aperistaltic intestine. The combination or small intestinal dilation and peristalsis combined with empty aperistaltic small intestine comprises an obstructive pattern. (See our research on this subject from ECVIM 2009. http://www.sonopath.com/resources_articles.asp).