OBJECTIVES OF THE PRESENTATION To describe techniques for reducing the mortality and morbidity associated with GDV. KEY CLINICAL DIAGNOSTIC POINTS Having a first-degree relative with a history of GDV is significantly associated with an increased risk of GDV. Recommend that dogs with a first-degree relative that has had GDV not be used for breeding. You cannot differentiate GDV from gastric dilatation without volvulus simply because you are able to pass a stomach tube. Stomach tubes frequently can be passed in dogs with twisted stomachs. KEY ETIOLOGIC AND PATHOPHYSIOLOGIC POINTS Classically, GDV syndrome is an acute condition with a mortality rate of 20% to 45% in treated animals. The gastric enlargement is thought to be associated with a functional or mechanical gastric outflow obstruction. The initiating cause of the outflow obstruction is unknown; however, once the stomach dilates, normal physiologic means of removing air (i.e., eructation, vomiting, and pyloric emptying) are hindered because the esophageal and pyloric portals are obstructed. The stomach becomes enlarged as gas or fluid or both accumulate in the lumen. The gas probably comes from aerophagia, although bacterial fermentation of carbohydrates, diffusion from the bloodstream, and metabolic reactions may contribute. Normal gastric secretion and transudation of fluids into the gastric lumen secondary to venous congestion contribute to fluid accumulation. The cause of GDV is unknown, but exercise after ingestion of large meals of highly processed food or water has been suggested to contribute to it. Epidemiologic studies have not supported a causal relationship between feeding soy-based or cereal-based dry dog food and GDV. However, Irish setters fed a single feed type appear to have an increased risk of GDV compared to those fed a mixture of feed types. Likewise, adding table food or canned food to the diet of large and giant breed dogs is associated with a decreased incidence of GDV. A recent study suggested that dogs fed a larger volume of food per meal were at significantly increased risk of GDV, regardless of the number of meals fed daily (Raghavan et al, 2004). In the aforementioned study, the risk of GDV was highest for dogs fed a larger volume of food once daily. Feeding dry dog foods in which one of the first four ingredients are oils or fats may also increase the risk of GDV (Raghavan et al, 2006). Other contributing causes include an anatomic predisposition, ileus, trauma, primary gastric motility disorders, vomiting, and stress. Male gender, increasing age, being underweight, being fed a large volume of food per meal, eating one meal (especially a large volume meal) per day, eating rapidly, having a raised feeding bowel, and having a fearful temperament are predisposing factors that may significantly increase a dog's risk of GDV (Glickman et al, 2000; Raghavan et al, 2004). Having a deeper and narrower thorax may change the anatomic relationship between the stomach and esophagus such that the dog's ability to eructate is impaired. Feeding dogs from a raised feed bowl may increase the risk of GDV because it may promote aerophagia. Finally, military working dogs were found to be more likely to develop a GDV in November, December, and January, but the reasons for this were uncertain (Herbold et al, 2002). Generally, with GDV the stomach rotates in a clockwise direction when viewed from the surgeon's perspective (with the dog on its back and the clinician standing at the dog's side, facing cranially. The rotation may be 90 to 360 degrees but usually is 220 to 270 degrees. The duodenum and pylorus move ventrally and to the left of the midline and become displaced between the esophagus and stomach. The spleen usually is displaced to the right ventral side of the abdomen.