Emergency canine surgery in a deployed forward surgical team: a case report.

INTRODUCTION: Forward surgical teams (FSTs) perform a variety of non-doctrinal functions. During their deployment to Afghanistan, the 541st FST (Airborne) performed emergency surgery on a German shepherd military working dog (MWD). METHODS: Retrospective examination of a case of veterinary surgery in a deployed FST. RESULTS: A 5 1/2-year-old German shepherd MWD presented with extreme lethargy, tachycardia, excessive drooling, and a firm, distended abdomen. These conditions resulted from gastric dilatation with volvulus. Since evacuation to a veterinarian was untenable, emergency laparotomy was performed in the FST. The gastric dilatation with volvulus was treated by detorsion and gastropexy, and the canine patient fully recovered. CONCLUSION: Canine surgery can be safely performed in an FST. Based on the number of MWDs deployed throughout the theater, FSTs may be called upon to care for them in the absence of available veterinary care.

Military Working Dogs: An Overview of Veterinary Care of These Formidable Assets.

For the clinician treating military working dogs, an understanding of how they are sourced, preventive medicine policies, and common disease conditions is paramount in optimizing the delivery of health care. Military personnel rely heavily on the availability of these K-9s, which bring a diverse array of capabilities to myriad operational settings. Anticipating and mitigating common diseases will ensure these dogs continue to serve the needs of US military and allied forces.

Determination of the concentrations of trilostane and ketotrilostane that inhibit ex vivo canine adrenal gland synthesis of cortisol, corticosterone, and aldosterone.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether trilostane or ketotrilostane is more potent in dogs and determine the trilostane and ketotrilostane concentrations that inhibit adrenal gland cortisol, corticosterone, and aldosterone secretion by 50%. SAMPLE: 24 adrenal glands from 18 mixed-breed dogs. PROCEDURES: Adrenal gland tissues were sliced, placed in tissue culture, and stimulated with 100 pg of ACTH/mL alone or with 5 concentrations of trilostane or ketotrilostane. Trials were performed independently 4 times. In each trial, 6 samples (1 for each time point) were collected for each of the 5 concentrations of trilostane and ketotrilostane tested as well as a single negative control samples. At the end of 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, and 7 hours, tubes were harvested and media and tissue slices were assayed for cortisol, corticosterone, aldosterone, and potassium concentrations. Data were analyzed via pharmacodynamic modeling. One adrenal slice exposed to each concentration of trilostane or ketotrilostane was submitted for histologic examination to assess tissue viability. RESULTS: Ketotrilostane was 4.9 and 2.4 times as potent in inhibiting cortisol and corticosterone secretion, respectively, as its parent compound trilostane. For trilostane and ketotrilostane, the concentrations that inhibited secretion of cortisol or corticosterone secretion by 50% were 480 and 98.4 ng/mL, respectively, and 95.0 and 39.6 ng/mL, respectively. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Ketotrilostane was more potent than trilostane with respect to inhibition of cortisol and corticosterone secretion. The data should be useful in developing future studies to evaluate in vivo serum concentrations of trilostane and ketotrilostane for efficacy in the treatment of hyperadrenocorticism.