COMPARISON OF A BIOFRAGMENTABLE INTESTINAL ANASTOMOSIS RING WITH APPOSITIONAL SUTURING FOR SUBTOTAL COLECTOMY IN NORMAL CATS

A subtotal colectomy was performed on 12 normal adult cats using an in terrupted apposing suture pattern of monofilament polyglyconate (n = 6 ) or a biofragmentable intestinal anastomosis ring (Valtrac, Davis and Geck Company, Danbury, CT) (n = 6) composed of polyglycolic acid and barium sulfate. Abdominal radiographs were made daily, beginning 10 da ys after surgery, to determine fragmentation rates of the anastomosis ring. The cats were euthanatized 30 days after surgery, and a gross an d histopathological evaluation of anastomotic healing and stricture fo rmation was performed. The technique for implantation of the anastomos is ring was easy to learn and required only two purse string sutures t o complete. Intraoperative complications associated with the anastomos is ring were minor, and included problems with purse string suture pla cement, small serosal tears, and spasms of the colon that reduced the lumenal diameter. There were no intraoperative complications in the ca ts with sutured anastomoses. Postoperative recovery was uneventful in all cats. The anatomosis rings fragmented 12.2 +/- 1.1 days (mean +/- standard deviation [SD]) after implantation and passed in the stool 3. 8 +/- 1.9 days later without clinical signs in five of six cats. There were no statistically significant differences between the time requir ed to perform the anastomosis (P = .348), postmortem gross anastomosis grades (P = .088), or percent of lumenal stricture (P = .178) between the two groups. Histologically, the only significant differences were an increased muscular inversion in the anastomoses performed using th e fragmentable ring (P = .039) and an increased muscular eversion in t he sutured anastomoses (P < .001) compared with normal colonic archite cture. (C)Copyright 1994 by The American College of Veterinary Surgeon s