Long lost rubber ball found in dog

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Long lost rubber ball found in dogs stomach
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Background

• A 13 year old dog had a rubber ball in his
  stomach for 11 years! The dog drank a barium
  solution that helped the vet find the ball in the
  stomach.

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The middle abdomen is incised
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The stomach is identified
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Stomach is isolated for surgery
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The foreign body is grasped through the stomach
wall.  The incision is made through the stomach
wall and into the stomach cavity.
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The corroded foreign object is identified,
grasped with forceps and removed from the
stomach.  There appeared to be no infection
present
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The deep mucosal layer of the stomach is sutured
with an inverting continuous suture.  In this
image half of the mucosal layer has been sutured.
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The outer muscular layer is sutured using simple
interrupted sutures.  The stomach is highly
vascular and heals rapidly.
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Ball is removed
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Cross section of ball
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The incision is closed with buried sutures.  The
corroded rubber ball was 1 1/2 inched in
diameter.  The lining of the stomach actually
appeared to be normal.