J Vet Sci.  2014 Jun;15(2):195-198. 10.4142/jvs.2014.15.2.195.

Accuracy of sonographic diagnosis of pneumoperitoneum using the enhanced peritoneal stripe sign in beagle dogs

• Kim SY
• Park KT
• Yeon SC
• Lee HC

• KMID: 1784639
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4142/jvs.2014.15.2.195

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and accuracy of estimating the smallest amount of abdominal free gas detectible in a large population of beagles by ultrasonography. Healthy dogs were randomly divided into three groups: group A that received 0.1 mL of air injected into the peritoneal cavity, group B that received 0.2 mL of air injected into the peritoneal cavity, and group C that received 0.5 mL of intraperitoneal air. Randomly, some dogs in each group did not receive air injection for the negative control. All ultrasonographic procedures were performed by individuals blinded to group assignments and the presence of intraperitoneal air. The minimum volume of consistently detectable air with good accuracy and reliability was 0.2 mL. Results of the study demonstrated that the enhanced peritoneal stripe sign (EPSS) can verify cases of pneumoperitoneum if more than 0.2 mL of intra-abdominal free gas is present The EPSS is a reliable and specific ultrasonographic characteristic for diagnosing pneumoperitoneum in dogs.

Keyword

dog; enhanced peritoneal stripe sign; pneumoperitoneum; ultrasonography

MeSH Terms

Animals
Dog Diseases/*ultrasonography
Dogs
Female
Male
Pneumoperitoneum/ultrasonography/*veterinary
Reproducibility of Results
Species Specificity
Ultrasonography/standards/veterinary

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Ultrasonographic images in the sagittal orientation of the umbilical region (A) and left lumbar (B and C) showing free abdominal air (arrows) that led to increased echogenicity and thickening of the peritoneal stripe with reverberation artifacts. Free abdominal air was present along the ventral peritoneum adjacent to the spleen and small intestine. Intraluminal air was also observed in the intestinal lumen (arrowhead) and associated with "dirty" acoustic shadowing.

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