title: Abdominal paracentesis and diagnostic peritoneal lavage.
abstract: Abdominal paracentesis, the percutaneous removal of abdominal fluid for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes, provides a rapid, easy, and safe method of diagnosing diseases with abdominal effusion. Commonly diagnosed diseases include peritonitis, hemoperitoneum, uroabdomen, and neoplasia. Other indications for abdominal paracentesis include shock without a known apparent cause, undiagnosed disease within the abdominal cavity, suspicion of postoperative gastrointestinal wound dehiscence, blunt or penetrating abdominal injury, and refractory abdominal pain for which a cause cannot be determined. In such cases, simple abdominal paracentesis or four-quadrant paracentesis can be performed and requires minimal equipment. Diagnostic peritoneal lavage is indicated when peritonitis or other effusive disease is suspected, but other techniques have failed to provide a diagnostic sample. Both abdominal paracentesis and diagnostic peritoneal lavage are effective methods for the early detection of disease before overt clinical signs are present.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Sciences, James L. Voss Veterinary Teaching Hospital, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA. Mike.Walters@colostate.edu
authors.forename: J Michael
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Walters
mesh_terms: D000006:Abdomen, Acute / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D000818:Animals; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000473:pathology*; D004285:Dogs; D019152:Paracentesis / Q000662:veterinary*; D010533:Peritoneal Lavage / Q000662:veterinary*