Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Current trends in the management of canine traumatic brain injury: An Internet-based survey.
- Journal:
- The Canadian veterinary journal = La revue veterinaire canadienne
- Year:
- 2019
- Authors:
- Evans, Emma Kathryn & Fernandez, Alberto L
- Affiliation:
- Cape Cod Veterinary Specialists · United States
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
This study looked at how different veterinarians manage traumatic brain injuries (TBI) in dogs. It involved 182 veterinarians, including specialists and general practitioners, and found that specialists felt more comfortable using a specific scale to assess the severity of the injury compared to general practitioners in private practice. Most veterinarians commonly used tests like checking blood cell levels, blood sugar, and blood pressure to diagnose the condition. The study also noted differences in the types of treatments chosen, with specialists preferring hypertonic saline, while general practitioners often opted for corticosteroids and anticonvulsants. Overall, the findings show that there is a lot of variation in how veterinarians approach the treatment of canine TBI.
Abstract
This study characterized trends in management of canine traumatic brain injury (TBI) among 182 small animal veterinarians grouped as follows: Board-certified specialists at a veterinary teaching hospital (BCS-VTH), Board-certified specialists in private practice (BCS-PP), non-specialists at a teaching hospital (DVM-VTH), and non-specialists in private practice (DVM-PP). The BCS-VTH, BSC-PP, and DVM-VTH groups were more comfortable using the modified Glasgow Coma Scale (MGCS) than the DVM-PP group (< 0.001,< 0.001, and= 0.009, respectively). All respondents chose the following diagnostics most frequently: packed cell volume/total solids (95.6%), blood glucose (96.7%), and blood pressure (95.0%). The DVM-VTH group chose the following more frequently than the DVM-PP group: computed tomography (19.4%4.5%;= 0.027), venous or arterial blood gas (83.9%46.3%;< 0.001), electrocardiography (71.0%44.8%;= 0.018), lactate (87.1%59.7%;= 0.009), and brief thoracic ultrasound (87.1%62.7%;= 0.017). BCS-PP chose hypertonic saline more frequently than DVM-PP (94.1%74.6%;= 0.005). The DVM-PP group chose corticosteroid therapy and anticonvulsant therapy more frequently than BCS-PP (10.4%0.0%;= 0.019; 73.1%43.1%;= 0.004, respectively). This study highlights variability in management of canine TBI.
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Search related cases →Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30651654/