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Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Any experience with “lack of detail” in x-ray of abdomen?

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    • Robinson 1105
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        First time poster…Hoping to find others who have experienced a similar situation.

        My bunny was acting as normal as ever until one afternoon I came home and he was in a very weird position, pushing his stomach into the ground and sticking his butt up in the air. Also, sometimes he looked like he was trying to walk with his back legs instead of hop. I should also mention that he has had no loss of appetite and eats a small amount of pellets,a ton of hay, and veggies at night and has been on the same eating schedule for over a year. He has continued to drink water, and peeing as normal. He has also been pooping a normal amount, but the size and shape is inconsistent. So with all of the extensive research that I have done, I thought it either had to be intestinal or a spinal injury. So of course I got him to the vet as soon as I could (1 day later). My vet first pointed out that she noticed his stomach was swollen. She felt it best to do an x-ray, but the strange thing is that she couldn’t see much detail in the organs, so she wasn’t able to even see if there was an issue with the stomach or liver. She wasn’t sure why there was a lack of detail, but that it could be fluid built up in the abdomen. She gave me some medicine to help improve motility in his GI tract to help normalize his poop, and pain medicine. If it doesn’t improve, she recommended doing an ultrasound to get a better view of the organs.

        SO, my question is…Has anyone ever experienced this issue with organs not being clearly visible in an x-ray? If so, what was the cause?


      • jerseygirl
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          I hope you see your bunny becoming more comfortable soon! Sending out {{{Vibes}}}.

          Could it have purely been an error with the xray?

          The only other thing I would guess at is a mass in the area obscuring a clear view of the organs? Abscess, tumour, cyst even… But this is purely speculation! I am often confused by xrays, to be quite honest. The vets do well to read them as well as they do. Further scans sound like a good idea. 


        • Krista
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            It sounds like she or the tech did a bad radiograph. She should have redid it. If she lowered the KVP it would show better contrast and detail. When we did radiographs in Animal Radiology last semester I brought my bun Bilbo for our exotics. You could see his stomach and organs. She made an error somewhere whether it be she exposed it to light, had wrong measurements, or the processor needs tinkered with. It was not an error with your bun.


          • jerseygirl
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              Posted By Krista on 2/01/2017 3:16 PM

              It sounds like she or the tech did a bad radiograph. She should have redid it. If she lowered the KVP it would show better contrast and detail. When we did radiographs in Animal Radiology last semester I brought my bun Bilbo for our exotics. You could see his stomach and organs. She made an error somewhere whether it be she exposed it to light, had wrong measurements, or the processor needs tinkered with. It was not an error with your bun.


            • Krista
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                In the radiograph/x-ray, were you able to see 3-4 different tissue types? Or did it look uniformly grey all over? You should have seen bones very clearly (his ribs and his spine depending on how much they collimated the film) and you should have seen at least the outline of the organs. The stomach would/should have been in the center of the radiograph and definitely should have been able to be seen. It would have appeared dark with a light outline. The bones should have been noticeable for it to have been a diagnostic radiograph since if you can’t see them then you won’t see the stomach or other organs. Bones are the easiest to see.

                Diagnostic: http://premiervetcareanimalclinic.com/clients/16473/images/chloe_petrovskis_01239103-20120817155650673-original.jpeg
                See you can see the stomach clearly and the other organs. Now they should have collimated this down, but you can see everything clearly. You can even see the esophagus leading into the stomach. Is this how the radiograph of your bun-bun looked? (This is not Bilbos radiograph this is from online)


              • Robinson 1105
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                  It was pretty uniformly gray, but I did get some concerning news from the results of his bloodwork today. His liver enzymes are very high and the vet said that it is highly likely that he has liver torsion and needs to have an ultrasound to confirm. This would explain the lack of detail in the ultrasound because with liver torsion there is usually free fluid that is present in the abdomen, making the x-ray cloudy.

                  I am so conflicted because Banks has never lost his appetite and has been drinking normally throughout all of this. He is also as normal as ever since we started giving him the metaclopramide and pain meds, which he has been on for 3 days now.

                  There is no way we can afford the $2500-3000 surgery for the liver torsion. I have read a little about liver torsion in rabbits and most always it is onset by lethargy and loss of appetite, but Banks has not experienced those symptoms, only his awkward position I noticed which is what brought me to the vet in the first place. I’m wondering if this is a condition that he could comfortably live with?


                • Krista
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                    Only the stomach area would appear cloudy if there was fluid in it, unless his whole abdominal cavity also had fluid free in it. I hope your bun doesnt have the torsion :/ ((good vibes) if he doesn’t have all the symptoms, perhaps the vet just misdiagnosed and the high liver enzymes are something else? May go to another vet for a second opinion. I had to do that with my dog because my first vet wanted to keep him on steroids when it turned out my dog only had a skin infection caused by yeast. If there are no other vets, then you will have to just trust the judgement of your current vet and hope your bun doesnt have liver torsion. I hope your bun will be okay, if he’s still eating and drinking that’s a good sign. ((Healing vibes))


                  • Aaron
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                      Well a rabbits belly is full of gas, so it is usually hard to see.


                    • Krista
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                        I didn’t find Bilbo’s very hard to see..Though I guess it depends on the view. Lateral is easier to see than a DV. The gas would only make the inside of the stomach dark. The soft tissue of a stomach would still appear a light grey-white color not dark since it is still tissue…Tissue has more density to it than air which is why it appears a light grey color. Less electrons pass through it compared to the ones that pass through the air or gas. Electrons are what make the radiograph black so the less that are penetrating the tissue the lighter it will appear. That’s why metal appears bright white since little to electrons pass through. I still think they just didn’t have enough KVP/contrast but we will never know because we will never see the radiograph.

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                    Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Any experience with “lack of detail” in x-ray of abdomen?