While abdominal radiographs (AXR) are often performed with abdominal ultrasound (AUS), it is unclear how often they identify abnormalities undetected by AUS.The objectives of this study were to assess the frequency of clinically significant findings (CSFs) identified by AXR and AUS during restaging of solid, soft tissue tumors in dogs and to determine the cost per CSF associated with AXR and AUS.Records between January 2010 and July 2020 were reviewed for dogs with solid, soft tissue tumors who underwent at least one restaging episode with concurrent AXR and AUS. Each CSF was classified as found by AXR alone, AUS alone, or both modalities. Identification of CSFs was compared between AXR and AUS and cost per CSF was calculated for each modality based on current hospital costs.One hundred fifty-nine dogs underwent a total of 223 restaging episodes. Clinically significant findings were observed in 63 restaging episodes. Thirty-nine CSFs were detected with ultrasound alone, and 22 CSFs were detected with both AXR and AUS. Only 1 dog had a CSF detected with AXR alone. Findings were identified significantly more often with AUS than AXR (P<0.0001). Cost per CSF was $495.27 for AXR and $326.76 for AUS. Abdominal radiographs were of minimal use beyond AUS for restaging, despite a higher cost per CSF than AUS. Limitations of this study are typical of retrospective studies. Routine use of AXR during restaging of solid, soft tissue tumors is not recommended. Further work is required to assess restaging recommendations for specific tumor types.
