Gastric malpositioning and chronic, intermittent vomiting following prophylactic gastropexy in a 20-month-old great Dane dog.

Gastric dilation and volvulus (GDV) is a life-threatening condition that most commonly affects large and giant breed dogs (1). Despite aggressive surgical intervention, mortality rates for patients which experience GDV approach 10% to 25% (2,3). For this reason, prophylactic gastropexy is frequently recommended and performed in juvenile dogs with a known breed predisposition to GDV (4). Breeds over-represented for the development of GDV include the great Dane, Irish setter, standard poodle, Weimaraner, and rottweiler, with the great Dane having a reported lifetime risk as high as 36.7% (5,6). Prophylactic gastropexy is commonly performed at the time of elective sterilization (7,8). Multiple surgical gastropexy techniques have been described, including those performed through a traditional open celiotomy (incisional, belt-loop, circumcostal) and newer less invasive laparoscopic and laparoscopic-assisted approaches (4,7–12). Prophylactic gastropexy has been historically well-documented to significantly decrease the risk of development of GDV, with rates of occurrence following gastropexy ranging from 0% to 4.3%, regardless of surgical method employed (4,13,14). Few complications have been documented following these prophylactic procedures. This report describes a dog which experienced chronic, intermittent vomiting following prophylactic gastropexy and whose clinical signs resolved following surgical revision of a malpositioned gastropexy site.