Urethropexy for canine urethral prolapse treatment: a retrospective study of 20 cases.

Case history and clinical findings: Medical record databases of a veterinary referral hospital in Montréal, Canada, were scrutinised to identify dogs that underwent urethropexy for urethral prolapse between June 2016 and March 2025.A total of 20 dogs were included in the study; brachycephalic breeds (15/20; 75%) and intact males (16/20; 80%) predominated. The median age at presentation was 10 (min 6, max 72) months, and the median body weight was 22.2 (min 2.5, max 29.6) kg. Two dogs had a urinary catheter, placed following spinal surgery, when urethral prolapse occurred.In addition to urethral prolapse, dogs presented with bleeding from the penis (10/20; 50%), haematuria (6/20; 30%), stranguria or periuria (2/20; 10%), and balanoposthitis (1/20; 5%).

Treatment and outcome: Urethropexy was performed in all 20 dogs. All but four dogs had concurrent surgical procedures: castration (n = 14), rhinoplasty, palatoplasty, and/or laryngeal sacculectomy (n = 6), or caudectomy (n = 1). Surgical duration for dogs that received urethropexy alone was 5-18 minutes and time to discharge was 1-2 days.Minor complications (transient haemorrhage, stranguria/dysuria, and/or swelling of the penile tip) were identified in 11/20 dogs (55%), all of which resolved within 2 weeks. Long-term follow-up data were obtained by a telephone interview with each owner, a median of 694.5 (min 19, max 2,827) days after surgery. Two dogs (10%) had recurrence of the urethral prolapse (considered a major complication) 2 days and 8 months after surgery. Only one of the two recurrences required surgical intervention.

Clinical relevance: Urethropexy alone may be a viable surgical option for treating urethral prolapse at initial presentation.