Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Cortisol and pain signs after spay surgery in cats
By Smith Jd et al.·Published in American Journal of Veterinary Research·1999·View original on Semantic Scholar →
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Original publication title: Changes in cortisol concentration in response to stress and postoperative pain in client-owned cats and correlation with objective clinical variables.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of 40 cats undergoing spay surgery (ovariohysterectomy) showed increased cortisol levels, which indicate stress and pain, especially when the surgery took longer. After surgery, some cats received a pain medication called butorphanol to help manage discomfort. However, the usual clinical signs like heart rate and temperature did not reliably show how much pain the cats were in. This suggests that while cortisol levels can indicate stress, other clinical signs may not always be helpful in assessing pain after surgery.
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Abstract
OBJECTIVE To identify clinical variables that indicate postoperative pain in cats after ovariohysterectomy in a veterinary hospital setting. ANIMALS 40 cats. PROCEDURE Cats were anesthetized and ovariohysterectomized by senior veterinary students. Butorphanol (0.1 mg/kg [n = 20] or 0.3 mg/kg [20] of body weight) was administered IM after surgery. Blood samples were obtained before, during, and after the anesthetic period for measurements of PCV and blood glucose and cortisol concentrations. Clinical variables measured included heart rate, systolic blood pressure, respiratory rate, and rectal temperature. Data for these variables were compared with changes in cortisol concentrations and with similar data-which was used as historical control data-obtained from 20 cats in another study (10 that had been ovariohysterectomized but had not received butorphanol and 10 that had only been anesthetized). RESULTS Surgical durations were longer in this study, and cats had higher cortisol concentrations, compared with historical control cats. Objective clinical variables did not consistently correlate with changes in cortisol concentration. CONCLUSIONS Cortisol concentration increased in response to surgical stress and pain. This response was greater in cats in which duration of surgery was longer. CLINICAL RELEVANCE The objective clinical variables evaluated in this study were not consistent indicators of pain in an uncontrolled, clinical situation.
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Search related cases →Original publication on Semantic Scholar: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/10211685