Introduction

Urinary bladder herniation relatively commonly accompanies perineal hernia in dogs.

Objectives

To describe seven instances of urinary bladder herniation in five dogs after previous surgical treatment for perineal hernia, including vasopexy, colopexy, and/or perineal herniorrhaphy with internal obturator muscle transposition.

Methods

Records of five dogs that had bladder herniation after vasopexy were reviewed.

Results

Seven instances of urinary bladder herniation in five dogs after vasopexy were evaluated. At the first surgery, four dogs had internal obturator muscle transposition concurrent with vasopexy and colopexy; one dog had only a vasopexy and colopexy performed. At re-presentation, urinary bladder herniation was confirmed via surgery, radiographs, or ultrasound in all seven instances. The vasopexy sites were intact in all instances, with stretching of the ductus being the mode of failure. Two dogs had two recurrences of urinary bladder herniation, one at 1,587 days and again 4 days later, and one at 706 days and again 198 days later. Time to recurrence for the remaining three dogs was 14 days, 924 days, and 1527 days. The dog that did not have primary hernia repair had recurrence at 14 days.

Conclusions

Common components of perineal hernia repair include primary hernia repair, usually with an internal obturator muscle transposition, vasopexy, and colopexy. Based on results from these five dogs, vasopexy may not be sufficient to prevent urinary bladder herniation due to failure by stretching of the ductus deferens.