Gastrointestinal

Managing passive regurgitation in patients under general anaesthesia

In orthopaedic practice, an increase in incidence of gastro-oesophageal reflux reported in patients undergoing surgery has been recognised. Possible causes include longer anaesthesia duration, patient...

Never fear when a rabbit stasis patient is near

A hands off exam of the patient in its carrier should be performed first. From this the veterinary nurse can assess if the patient is collapsed or dyspnoeic, which would require immediate critical...

Nutritional management of the critical vomiting canine

Critically ill patients are at an increased risk of gastrointestinal compromise, including those where gastrointestinal compromise is not their primary condition. Gastrointestinal compromise can be...

Chronic inflammatory enteropathy: faecal microbiota transplantation in clinical practice

The development of canine chronic enteropathy clinical activity indices extrapolated from human medicine offer a quantifiable and repeatable measure of monitoring response to treatment. The most...

Gastric dilatation volvulus: a review

Gastric dilatation volvulus is characterised by gastric distension and pyloric rotation, most commonly clockwise, between 90 and 360°. Often the spleen is displaced concomitantly to the right ventral...

The veterinary nurse's role in the management of acute oropharyngeal injury in dogs

A successful outcome of an emergency patient is more likely where quick and appropriate action is taken. This is dictated by the initial observation and clinical examination. Triage is a way of...

Understanding protein losing enteropathy (PLE)

In a healthy animal, proteins that enter the GIT are digested into amino acids. These amino acids are then reabsorbed by the GIT. As the building blocks of proteins, they are utilised in the synthesis...

Clinical presentation and management of liver lobe torsions in domestic rabbits

Rupert was a 6-year-old, male neutered, crossbreed rabbit belonging to one of the clinic's veterinary surgeons. He was fully up to date with vaccinations against myxomatosis and rabbit haemorrhagic...

How to provide early enteral nutrition in the canine pancreatitis patient

The pancreas is a flat, long, abdominal organ (Thomas Colville, 2016), which sits adjacent to the stomach. The pancreas is connected to the duodenum (the first portion of the intestine) via the...

Acute pancreatitis in canine patients

Pancreatitis is described as the most common exocrine disease affecting both canines and felines (Steiner, 2020). Premature activation of digestive enzymes results in pancreatic autodigestion, leading...