Postoperative management
Postoperatively, both dogs were hospitalized in the intensive care unit. They were maintained on lidocaine CRI (33 µg/kg/min) for 24 hours and received maintenance fluid therapy with lactated Ringer’s solution (3-4 mL/kg/h), metronidazole-spiramycin (10 mg/kg, every 12 hours, administered intravenously for 5 days), cefazoline (22 mg/kg, every 12 hours, administered intravenously for 8 days), meloxicam (0.1 mg/ kg, every 24 hours, administered intravenously for 4 days), and methadone (0.15 mg/kg, every 4 hours, administered intravenously, according to the Glasgow pain scale). Pain scoring was performed every 2 hours and the dogs resumed oral feeding the day after surgery with four small meals per day of gastrointestinal canned food.
The mean urinary output was 2.5 mL/kg/h in Dog 1 and 3 mL/kg/h in Dog 2, with the urinary output continuously monitored for 4 days after surgery. Postoperative serial ultrasound examinations were performed to monitor for abdominal effusion and peritoneal reaction.