2026 Volume 57 Issue 2 Pages 46-52
A 14-year-and-2-month-old Toy Poodle was diagnosed with caudal vena cava obstruction associated with a large intra-abdominal mass. Two collateral vessels had developed caudal to the site of obstruction, establishing collateral circulation from the caudal region. Therefore, surgical resection of both the tumor and the obstructed segment of the caudal vena cava was performed. Intraoperatively, the large intra-abdominal mass was found to completely encase a portion of the caudal vena cava. The vena cava and the mass were carefully dissected from the cranial aspect of the left adrenal gland to the caudal aspect of the liver, and the mass was resected en bloc with a portion of the caudal vena cava. The postoperative course was favorable, with no evidence of ascites or edema. These findings suggest that even in cases where a large intra-abdominal mass causes obstruction of the caudal vena cava, en bloc resection of the tumor including the affected vena cava segment may be feasible if collateral circulation is adequately maintained through the development of collateral vessels.
