Effects of Needle Gauge Size and Injection Technique on Uterine Leakage Injection Sites in Dogs

Tanner Roberts¹Aki Otomo²Mark Mitchell³Rebecca Csomos^4*

• ¹Southwest Veterinary Surgical Service, Gilbert, United States
• ²Care Center, Dayton, OH, United States
• ³School of Veterinary Medicine, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States
• ⁴Small Animal Surgeon, Locum, New Orleans, LA, United States

Objective: To determine the effect of needle gauge and injection technique (modified Seldinger versus Seldinger) on injection site leakage from the canine uteri Sample Population: Thirteen canine uterine tissue samples obtained following routine ovariohysterectomy in healthy canine patients.Procedures: Canine uterine samples were divided into three equal segments per uterine horn and occluded using Rochester-Carmalt hemostatic forceps. Each uterine horn was randomly assigned to one of two injection technique groups (S = Seldinger, MS = modified Seldinger) and injections of 1% diluted India ink were performed using 22 gauge, 20 gauge, and 18 gauge needles. Injection site leakage was evaluated by a blinded observer. Multivariate analysis was used to determine if there was a significant difference in leakage among the different needle sizes and injection techniques.Results: There was a significant difference in the presence of leakage by needle gauge (Q: 10.3, p=0.006) for the modified Seldinger method, with leakage being significantly more likely with the 18 gauge (46.1%, 6/13; p=0.015) and 20 gauge (53.8%, 7/13; p=0.03) needles compared with the 22 gauge needle (7.7%, 1/13). There was a significant difference in the presence of leakage for the Seldinger method by needle gauge (Q: 9.3, p=0.009), with the 18 gauge needle (69.2%, 9/13; p=0.015) being more likely to leak than the 22 gauge needle (23.1%, 3/13).