Retrospective Comparison of Surgical Ligation and Transarterial Catheter Occlusion for Treatment of Patent Ductus Arteriosus in Two Hundred and Four Dogs (1993–2003)

Objective— To compare procedure time, complications, mortality, and short‐term outcome in dogs with patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) treated by surgical ligation (SL) or transarterial coil occlusion (TCO). Study Design— Retrospective study. Animals— Dogs with PDA (n=204). Methods— Medical records of dogs treated for PDA were reviewed. Dogs treated by SL when it was the primary method used for PDA treatment (1993–1998) were compared with dogs treated by TCO when it was the primary method used for PDA treatment (1999–2003). Dogs treated during the transition between techniques, dogs treated with SL (1999–2003) and dogs treated with TCO before 1999, as well as dogs with pulmonary hypertension, or bidirectional or reversed (right‐to‐left) flow through the PDA were excluded from analysis. Results— Age, weight, gender distribution, and procedure times ( P =.43) were similar for both groups. Major complications were more common with SL (12% versus 4.3%; P =.035) whereas minor complications were more common with TCO (12% versus 26%; P =.015). Initial success rate was higher for SL (94%) compared with TCO (84%; P =.027). There was no significant difference in mortality between SL (5.6%) and TCO (2.6%; P =.27). Conclusions— Both SL and TCO are acceptable PDA treatments with comparable mortality; however, SL was associated with a higher risk of major complications and TCO was associated with a lower initial success rate.