What it is
"Hemoabdomen" means blood free in the belly. In older dogs the usual cause is a mass on the spleen or liver that ruptures. About two thirds of those masses are cancer, most often hemangiosarcoma, a tumor of blood vessel lining that is common in golden retrievers, German shepherds and Labradors.1 The rest are benign, and those dogs are often cured by surgery. You can't tell which it is until the spleen is removed and examined.
Warning signs
Why transfusions
These dogs arrive in shock and need surgery to stop the bleeding. Red blood cell transfusions stabilize them for anesthesia and replace what is lost on the table. In a study of 83 dogs with hemoabdomen taken to surgery, most received a transfusion, and about three quarters survived to discharge.2 The long-term outlook then depends on the diagnosis: benign disease is often cured, while hemangiosarcoma typically returns within months even with chemotherapy. Blood availability decides whether the dog gets the chance to find out.
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Research and references
Peer-reviewed sources for what's on this page. Each link runs a PubMed search for the paper so you land on the abstract, and often the full text.
- 1Hammond TN, Pesillo-Crosby SA. Prevalence of hemangiosarcoma in anemic dogs with a splenic mass and hemoperitoneum requiring a transfusion: 71 cases (2003-2005) J Am Vet Med Assoc. 2008;232(4):553-558. PubMed
- 2Lux CN, Culp WT, Mayhew PD, et al. Perioperative outcome in dogs with hemoperitoneum: 83 cases (2005-2010) J Am Vet Med Assoc. 2013;242(10):1385-1391. PubMed