Southpaws has performed its first completely laparoscopic gastropexy using the FlexDex robotic functionality system. Surgery was uneventful and took 60 minutes. With practice, we should get the operative time down to about 20-25 minutes. The patient recovered quickly and went home the same day. Watch the video below to see this procedure in action.
We will be performing other abdominal surgeries using the FlexDex Minimally Invasive Surgery System, including adrenalectomy, abdominal exploration with biopsies, nephrectomy, cholecystectomy, foreign body retrieval, etc. Please have interested owners contact us on (03) 9553 1775. Referring vets are also welcome to scrub in on their patients!
Gastric dilatation with volvulus (GDV) aka twisted stomach is a catastrophic event which frequently occurs in large and giant breed dogs, with a lifetime risk of about 24%. Treatment for GDV is associated with exorbitant financial and emotional stress. Despite treatment, survival is not guaranteed, with about 30% of dogs with GDV dying of the condition. Some breeds have an even higher lifetime risk. Great Danes, for example, have a lifetime risk for GDV of 42.4% with 12.6% of all Great Danes dying of GDV in their lifetime. Other at-risk breeds include Irish Wolfhounds, Newfoundlands, Saint Bernards, Akitas, Blood hounds, Collies, Irish Setters, Rottweilers, Standard Poodles and Weimariners.
Gastropexy surgery has been shown to effectively prevent GDV. A study was performed that showed that in purely financial terms, given the cost of prophylactic gastropexy compared with the cost of treatment of GDV and the breed incidence, gastropexy made financial sense in all at-risk breeds. This study did not account for the stress of treating GDV, not to mention the emotional effects of GDV-related death.
Surgeons are routinely performing surgeries such as gastrointestinal resection and anastomosis, bariatric surgery, ureteral anastomosis, prostatectomy, adrenalectomy, cholecystectomy and many others using the FlexDex system. We will broadly expand our capabilities with this amazing technology as we gain experience. We hope that in many patients, open laparotomy will be a thing of the past.
Please contact your pet owners of at-risk breed dogs to schedule their Pexy today. We can also advise primary care vets on performing a less invasive gastropexy on their own patients.
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