Surgical procedures may lead to activation of the coagulation cascade and to clot formation, complicating the interpretation of postoperative increases in D-dimer concentration in dogs. This study aimed to examine whether D-dimer concentrations increases following different surgical procedures in dogs. Dogs presented for elective neutering (castration or ovariohysterectomy), elective orthopaedic and post-traumatic orthopaedic surgeries were enrolled. Plasma D-dimer concentration, measured immediately prior to, immediately after, and 24 hours after surgery (T0, T1 and T24, respectively), were compared within and among the study groups. The study included 45 dogs (15 in each group). All dogs recovered uneventfully from surgery. D-dimer was >250 ng/mL in 8 dogs (18%) preoperatively, in 9 (20%) at T1 and in 5 (11%) at T24. At T1 and T24, only 2 dogs had D-dimer concentration >500 ng/mL, and it was <750 ng/mL in all dogs. There was no difference in the proportion of abnormally increased D-dimer concentration (>250 ng/mL) among the time points (p=0.29), and no differences in median D-dimer concentration among the different time points, excluding the neuter group (p=0.029). Post hoc analysis showed that D-dimer concentration in the neuter group was higher at T1 vs. T0 (161 ng/dL; range 71–727 vs. 122 ng/mL; range, 43–353, respectively) and lower at T24 vs. T1, but both differences were insignificant (p=0.065 and p=0.31, respectively). The results suggest that surgery per se is unlikely to induce increased D-dimer concentration in dogs, regardless of its type; therefore, any postoperative abnormally increased D-dimer concentration should be regarded as clinically potentially important.

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