The use of agitated saline as contrast agent in a contrast-enhanced cystosonography for detection of urinary bladder rupture in animal cadavers.

Objective: To determine the value of microbubble contrast cystosonography in the diagnosis of bladder rupture in animals.

Design: Prospective, method comparison study from November 2019 to October 2020.

Setting: University teaching hospital.

Animals: Thirty-four ethically sourced cadavers of dogs, rats, and rabbits.

Interventions: In a prospective and blinded study, the cadavers were divided into 2 randomized groups: with bladder rupture (CR), and without bladder rupture (SR). Urinary catheterization was performed in all cadavers. Through the urethral catheter, bladders in CR group were ruptured using a rigid stainless steel guide wire. Microbubble contrast was infused into the bladder through the urethral catheter, while a single, blinded observer sonographically assessed the bladder. The time to diagnosis and the number of attempts needed for diagnosis were recorded.

Measurements And Main Results: The study included cadavers of 16 female Wistar rats, 6 female dogs, 11 male dogs, and 1 male rabbit. Time to diagnosis in dogs (2.25 ± 0.91 min) was statistically higher when compared to rats (1.15 ± 0.75 min; P = 0.03). Of the 34 cases, incorrect diagnosis of bladder rupture was made in only 2 dogs (6%), indicating a diagnostic sensitivity of 88.88%, specificity of 100%, and an accuracy of 94%. The positive predictive value was 1 and the negative predictive value was 0.9.

Conclusions: Our study showed that the described method is accurate, sensitive, and specific for the detection of bladder rupture in animal cadavers of different species, size, and sex.