GDV is a surgical emergency. Some clinical signs that you might see are abdominal distension, vomiting or retching without bringing anything up or weakness and acting depressed.

In GDV, the stomach fills with air and rotates on itself, which does not allow any material or gas to exit the stomach. This leads to worse distension that can lead to compromised blood flow to the stomach and shock. The diagnosis can quickly be confirmed with a single lateral radiograph (x-ray).  Surgery is needed so that we can go in the abdomen and de-rotate the stomach, drain out the gas and other material in it and then permanently attach the stomach to the body wall so that it does not rotate again.  Sometimes the stomach will have enough blood flow compromised that some of it needs to be removed, but that is not the usual scenario. Dogs that have had this surgery can still bloat (stomach gets distended with air), but they should not be able to twist the stomach, which makes it a problem we can solve without surgery.

Dogs that have this problem and are taken to surgery have a good prognosis for recovery, although it may take a few days in the hospital to recover. It is more commonly seen in large breed dogs with deep chest. We can also do this as a preventative surgery in dogs that are at high risk, usually at the time of spay or neutering.