Therefore, I will recommend surgery only if the risk associated with surgery is less than the risk of continuing with medical management. There is always a small risk the dog may not make it through anesthesia/surgery, is permanently worse, or never improves.
1 The blood tests most frequently used for liver disease are the aminotransferases (alanine aminotransferase or ALT and aspartate aminotransferase or AST). 2  Normal levels of ALT ranges from about 7-56 units/liter, and 10-40units/liters for AST.
Liver tests check the blood for two main liver enzymes: 1  Aspartate aminotransferase (AST), formerly called SGOT; the AST enzyme is also found in muscles and many other tissues besides the liver. 2  Alanine aminotransferase (ALT), formerly called SGPT; ALT is almost exclusively found in the liver.