A bowel tumour with a life of it's own!

T.J., a big strong 5 year old German Shepherd dog was presented at the surgery on an April Monday morning (2001) looking very weak and depressed. He had vomited several times over the weekend and had noticeable lost weight. On palpation of his abdomen we could feel a firm mobile mass about the size of a tennis ball in the middle of the intestinal area. Possibilities included a bowel torsion, a foreign body obstruction, or a bowel tumour. Whatever it was it wasn't good news. T.J. was admitted immediately for X-ray and blood tests. The mass wasn't visible on the X-ray (fig. 1) but it's effects were. The long loops of gas-filled small intestine were a strong indication of intestinal obstruction. Blood tests were encouraging: most results were near to normal but the white cell count was high, indicating inflammation. We anaesthetised T.J. and prepared him for abdominal surgery. Once inside we found a 7cm diameter mass attached to the wall of the small intestine. The tumour was made up of dense muscular tissue which wriggled and pulsated constantly of it's own accord as if it were an alien being trying to escape! A 20cm length of bowel including the active tumour was removed and the two ends of bowel reconnected end to end by basic surgical plumbing. T.J.'s recover was wonderful to see. He went for a short walk later that day, went home the next, barked at the milkman two days later and was back to his normal happy self after a week or so. The pathology report on the tumour described it as a leiomyoma, an benign growth of the smooth muscle of the small intestine. The prospects were good. Total cost of treatment £1100. Fortunately T.J.'s owner had taken out a pet health insurance policy. In February 2002 T.J. was given a thorough examination under anaesthetic and his abdomen was given the all clear.

Fig. 1. X- ray showing loops of gas filled intestine  <top of page>
 

Fig. 2. The bowel and tumour before removal      <top of page>
 

Fig. 3. The bowel after "end to end" repair      <top of page>
 

Fig. 4. T.J. 6 wks after recovery    <top of page>