Virginia Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA.
J Vet Intern Med. 2012 Nov-Dec;26(6):1288-94. doi: 10.1111/j.1939-1676.2012.01009.x. Epub 2012 Oct 13.
Chronic diarrhea is common in dogs and has many causes. Ultrasonographic descriptions of many gastrointestinal diseases have been published, but the diagnostic utility of ultrasonography in dogs with chronic diarrhea has not been investigated.
Diagnostic utility of abdominal ultrasound will be highest in dogs with GI neoplasia and lowest in those with inflammatory disorders.
87 pet dogs with chronic diarrhea.
Prospective study in which medical records were reviewed and contribution of abdominal ultrasound toward making diagnosis was scored.
In 57/87 (66%) of dogs, the same diagnosis would have been reached without ultrasonography. In 13/87 (15%) of dogs, the ultrasound examination was vital or beneficial to making the diagnosis. Univariable analysis identified that increased diagnostic utility was associated with weight loss (P = .0086), palpation of an abdominal or rectal mass (P = .0031), diseases that commonly have mass lesions visible on ultrasound examination (P < .0001), and a final diagnosis of GI neoplasia. Multivariable regression indicated that utility of abdominal ultrasonography would be 30 times more likely to be high in dogs in which an abdominal or rectal mass was palpated (odds ratio 30.5, 95% CI 5.5-169.6) (P < .0001) versus dogs without a palpable mass. In 15/87 (17%) of dogs, additional benefits of ultrasonography to case management, independent of the contribution to the diagnosis of diarrhea, were identified.
Overall, the diagnostic utility of abdominal ultrasonography was low in dogs with chronic diarrhea. Identification of factors associated with high diagnostic utility is an indication to perform abdominal ultrasonography in dogs with chronic diarrhea.
慢性腹泻在犬中很常见，其病因众多。许多胃肠道疾病的超声描述已经发表，但超声检查在慢性腹泻犬中的诊断效用尚未得到研究。
腹部超声检查对胃肠道肿瘤犬的诊断效用最高，对炎症性疾病犬的诊断效用最低。
87 只患有慢性腹泻的宠物犬。
前瞻性研究，回顾病历，对腹部超声检查对诊断的贡献进行评分。
在 87 只犬中，有 57 只（66%）即使没有超声检查也能得出相同的诊断。在 13 只犬（15%）中，超声检查对做出诊断至关重要或有益。单变量分析表明，诊断效用的增加与体重减轻（P =.0086）、腹部或直肠触诊肿块（P =.0031）、通常在超声检查中可见肿块病变的疾病（P <.0001）以及胃肠道肿瘤的最终诊断有关。多变量回归分析表明，在触诊到腹部或直肠肿块的犬中，腹部超声检查的效用更有可能很高（优势比 30.5，95%CI 5.5-169.6）（P <.0001），而没有触诊到肿块的犬则不然。在 87 只犬中（17%），发现了超声检查对病例管理的额外益处，独立于对腹泻诊断的贡献。
总体而言，慢性腹泻犬的腹部超声检查诊断效用较低。确定与高诊断效用相关的因素表明，对慢性腹泻犬进行腹部超声检查是有必要的。
