Evaluation of costs and time required for laparoscopic-assisted versus open cystotomy for urinary cystolith removal in dogs: 43 cases (2009-2012)

Objective-To compare required time and costs of surgery and hospitalization as well as prevalence of incomplete urinary cystolith removal associated with laparoscopic-assisted cystotomy versus open cystotomy in dogs. Design-Retrospective case series. Animals-20 dogs with urolithiasis treated by laparoscopic-assisted cystotomy and 23 dogs treated by open cystotomy. Procedures-Medical records were reviewed. Surgery cost, hospitalization cost, total cost, surgery time, days in hospital, incomplete cystolith removal, and number of doses of analgesic administered IV after surgery were compared between the laparoscopic-assisted cystotomy and open cystotomy groups. Results-Surgery cost and total cost were significantly higher in the laparoscopic-assisted cystotomy group. Hospitalization cost, days in hospital, and prevalence of incomplete cystolith removal did not differ significantly between groups. Number of doses of analgesic was significantly lower in the laparoscopic-assisted cystotomy group. Conclusions and Clinical Relevance-Laparoscopic-assisted cystotomy was more time-consuming and expensive but associated with fewer postoperative doses of injectable analgesics, compared with open cystotomy. Laparoscopic-assisted cystotomy is an acceptable, more expensive, and minimally invasive alternative to open cystotomy for the removal of urinary cystoliths in dogs.