Over the years, our clinic has been utilized heavily by Dane 911 – Great Dane Rescue of Grundy County, as well as taken care of a large number of Great Dane show dogs.  As a result of seeing so many Great Danes, we have consequently seen many cases of the Great Danes’s worst nightmare – BLOAT!  Other names for this are Torsion and Gastric Dilation and Volvulus (GVD).  Bloat implies a distension of the stomach usually with air and ingesta.  When this is followed by a twisting of stomach we have Torsion or GDV.  Both the inlet and the outlet of the stomach become twisted shut.  Often referred to as the mother of all veterinary emergencies, this condition can occur acutely and if not corrected, will lead to a rapid and painful death.
 

    We have been offering a procedure for years that, done prophylactically, can greatly reduce the incidence of GDV.  By attaching the stomach wall to the body wall, an adhesion is created and thus the stomach is prevented from rotating and life threatening GDV is avoided.  While many breeders refer to this prophylactic procedure as a “Tack,” the technical term is a Gastropexy.  All gastropexies are not equal.  Circumcostal, belt-loop, and incisional gastropexies are among the strongest.  With the first two types mentioned, a muscle flap is created from the stomach wall, and this flap is passed around a rib or a muscular “Belt Loop” then sutured back to the stomach from where it was originally harvested.  An Incisional Gastropexy involves suturing the cut muscle of the stomach wall to the cut muscle of the inner abdominal wall.  As these tissues heal, they result in a strong adhesion of the stomach to the body wall.
 

    While the Circumcostal Gastropexy is the strongest, all three of the above mentioned procedures provide gastropexies that are strong enough to inhibit gastric rotation.  In the lab, the strength of these gastropexies can be measured by seeing how much force is necessary to pull them apart.  What we don’t know is how much strength is needed to prevent GDV.  Using the laparoscopic assisted method, we can provide an incisional gastropexy which results in a very strong adhesion in a minimally invasive procedure.