Cystotomy
Better care for the best pets.
What is a Cystotomy?
Cystotomy is typically performed to remove bladder stones, repair bladder tears, or obtain biopsies. Here's what you should know:
- Indications: Common reasons include bladder stones (uroliths), trauma, or the need to diagnose bladder masses.
- Procedure: An incision is made in the abdominal wall to access the bladder. Once inside, the bladder is opened, the issue is addressed, and then the bladder is closed with sutures.
- Bladder Wall Cultures:
- Purpose: Helps identify bacterial infections that might not be cleared by standard antibiotics.
- Why It Matters: Tailoring antibiotic therapy based on culture results can significantly improve outcomes, especially in recurrent or complicated infections.
- Stone Analysis:
- Why Important:Determining the composition of bladder stones is crucial for preventing recurrence. Different stones (struvite, calcium oxalate, etc.) require different dietary and medical management strategies.
- Prevention: With the right analysis, we can recommend specific diets, supplements, or medications to prevent new stone formation.
Post-Operative Care
Recovery from a cystotomy is vital for ensuring your pet’s health:
- Hospitalization: Usually, pets will be discharged the same day but there are times when we will recommend referral to an overnight hospital.
- Activity Restriction:
- Initial Period: Your pet should have restricted activity to prevent strain on the surgical site. This might mean cage rest or limited leash walks for larger dogs.
- Gradual Increase: Slowly increase activity as advised by our team to avoid complications like bladder rupture or infection.
- Medication:
- Antibiotics: To prevent or treat infection.
- Pain Relief: To keep your pet comfortable during recovery.
- Urination Monitoring: Keep an eye on how often and how much your pet urinates. Any signs of difficulty, blood in the urine, or unusual frequency should be reported to us immediately. Blood can be expected for the first 2-4 days after surgery.
- Follow-up Appointments:
- Suture Removal: If external sutures are used, we’ll schedule their removal.
- Check-ups: To assess healing, review urinalysis, and adjust any ongoing treatment or diet plans.
- Diet and Hydration:
- Special Diets: Depending on stone analysis, we might recommend a therapeutic diet to manage or prevent further stone formation.
- Hydration: Encourage water intake to help flush the bladder and prevent stone reformation.
- Hospitalization: Usually, pets will be discharged the same day but there are times when we will recommend referral to an overnight hospital.
- Activity Restriction:
- Initial Period: Your pet should have restricted activity to prevent strain on the surgical site. This might mean cage rest or limited leash walks for larger dogs
- Gradual Increase: Slowly increase activity as advised by our team to avoid complications like bladder rupture or infection.
- Medication:
- Antibiotics: To prevent or treat infection
- Pain Relief: To keep your pet comfortable during recovery.
- Urination Monitoring: Keep an eye on how often and how much your pet urinates. Any signs of difficulty, blood in the urine, or unusual frequency should be reported to us immediately. Blood can be expected for the first 2-4 days after surgery
- Follow-up Appointments:
- Suture Removal: If external sutures are used, we’ll schedule their removal.
- Check-ups: To assess healing, review urinalysis, and adjust any ongoing treatment or diet plans.
- Diet and Hydration:
- Special Diets: Depending on stone analysis, we might recommend a therapeutic diet to manage or prevent further stone formation
- Hydration: Encourage water intake to help flush the bladder and prevent stone reformation.
- Expertise: Our surgeons are experienced in both routine and complex bladder surgeries.
- Advanced Diagnostics: We have the tools to perform immediate stone analysis and culture, speeding up your pet’s treatment plan.
- Comprehensive Care: From diagnosis through recovery, we provide a full spectrum of care, including dietary advice, follow-ups, and emergency support.
