Gastroduodenal ulceration in dogs. Retrospective study of 43 cases and literature review.

Forty three dogs with non-neoplastic canine gastric and/or duodenal ulcers were diagnosed at the University of Tennessee Veterinary Teaching Hospital (UTVTH) and reviewed in conjunction with dogs reported in the literature. No age, sex, or breed predilection was found. Most of the 43 UTVTH dogs presented with clinical signs referable to gastrointestinal disease, but evidence of hemorrhage was not always present. Nonregenerative anemia was a common (33/43 dogs) finding. Diagnosis of ulcer disease was made by contrast radiography, with clinical evidence of gastrointestinal hemorrhage, or surgery, endoscopy, or necropsy. Treatment with nonsteroidal, anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and hepatic disease were the two most common predisposing factors for ulcer disease. Dogs with liver disease tended to have duodenal ulcers, dogs receiving NSAID treatment tended to have pyloroantral ulcers, and dogs with mastocytosis had ulcers in multiple locations. Three dogs with duodenal ulcers receiving NSAID treatment had an additional predisposing factor. Surgical treatment (with or without medical treatment) had a good outcome when the predisposing factors could be controlled or eliminated. Only 3 of 27 dogs in both the surgical and medically treated groups died from ulcer disease, whereas 6 of 16 dogs in the untreated group died from ulcer disease.