Stapled enterectomy reduces surgical time when compared with sutured enterectomy: a retrospective review of 54 cats.

Objectives: Feline enterectomy is commonly performed in referral and general veterinary practice; however, existing studies in the veterinary literature lack significant case numbers to guide clinical decision-making. In addition, no studies have evaluated the use of surgical staplers in cats for this procedure. This study aimed to compare the use of surgical staplers for functional end-to-end anastomosis (SFEEA) with hand-sewn end-to-end anastomosis (EEA) in cats. Additional aims included investigating the feasibility of surgical staplers in cats as well as assessing short- and long-term complications and outcomes.

Methods: The medical records of four referral hospitals were retrospectively searched for cats that had undergone enterectomy between 2003 and 2022. Preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative data were compared between the SFEEA and EEA groups, with a median long-term follow-up time of 488 days (interquartile range 255-1030).

Results: In total, 54 cats met the inclusion criteria for this study, with 24 undergoing an SFEEA while 30 underwent EEA. There was a significant difference in surgical time between the two groups. The SFEEA group had a mean surgical time 34.3 ± 9.274 mins faster than the EEA group (P <0.001). Unique complications reported for the SFEEA group included haemo abdomen and anastomotic stricture.

Conclusions and relevance: SFEEA should be considered in cats where anaesthetic time should be kept as short as possible, such as patients with American Society of Anesthesiologists scores of 3-4. Stricture at the anastomotic site may be seen in the long term for cats undergoing SFEEA.