Management of Pneumoperitoneum

By: Stacy Meola, DVM, MS, DACVECC and Kelly Knudson, MD, FACS

Description: This session will be presented by a critical care veterinarian and a human general and trauma surgeon. We will discuss how to diagnose a pneumoperitoneum on radiographs and CT. The lecture will work through an algorithm to determine if surgery or medical management is appropriate and what the common medical management would be in humans and animals. When appropriate we will compare the differences between the causes and treatments in humans and companion animals.

By the end of the session, attendees will be able to:

1. Participants will have a great understanding of the causes of pneumoperitoneum
2. Participants will learn how to determine which cases should go to surgery and which cases medical management can be considered.
3. Participants will learn some of the trick for diagnosing a pneumoperitoneum on different imaging modalities

Speaker Info: Dr. Stacy Meola attended the University of Utah and received her Bachelor’s degree in Biology and Chemistry, and her Master’s degree in Medical Laboratory Science. While in Utah, she spent six years conducting research on artificial hearts and other biomedical devices. Dr. Meola earned her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree at Colorado State University in 2006 and accepted the internship at Wheat Ridge Animal Hospital. After completing this program in June 2007, Dr. Meola was selected to stay on for a surgical internship. She completed her residency in Emergency and Critical Care at Wheat Ridge Animal Hospital and became board-certified in Emergency and Critical Care in 2012. She accepted the position of Associate Medical Director for Wheat Ridge Animal Hospital in 2016. Presentation Title: Management of Pneumoperitoneum This session will be presented by a critical care veterinarian and a human general and trauma surgeon. We will discuss how to diagnose a pneumoperitoneum on radiographs and CT. The lecture will work through an algorithm to determine if surgery or medical management is appropriate and what the common medical management would be in humans and animals. When appropriate we will compare the differences between the causes and treatments in humans and companion animals.

Dr. Knudson received her medical degree from University of Colorado School of Medicine where she was active in AOA, the medical honor society. She is board certified in general surgery. She completed a five-year surgical residency at University of Colorado and joined Exempla Healthcare in 2008. Dr. Knudson has served as Chair of the Performance Excellence Quality Committee, Surgery Department Chair and finally as Chief of Staff for the Medical Staff at Good Samaritan Medical Center 2018-2020. She has also served as Medical Director for Specialty Care and General Surgery for SCL Health now Intermountain Healthcare.