Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
How SIRS criteria help diagnose emergency cases in dogs and cats
By Spillane, Amanda M et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary emergency and critical care (San Antonio, Tex. : 2001)·2023·Department of Veterinary Clinical Medicine, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Evaluating the clinical utility of the systemic inflammatory response syndrome criteria in dogs and cats presenting to an emergency department.
Plain-English summary
A study looked at dogs and cats that showed signs of illness when they arrived at an emergency room, specifically focusing on a set of criteria called the systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS). In dogs, about 70% met the SIRS criteria, while in cats, it was much less common. The study found that dogs who met the SIRS criteria had a lower survival rate compared to those who did not, with an 83% survival rate for SIRS-positive dogs. For cats, the survival rate was 61% for those meeting the criteria. Overall, the SIRS criteria were not very effective in predicting health outcomes for these pets.
People also search for: dog emergency room symptoms · cat emergency room survival rate · SIRS criteria in dogs and cats · dog illness signs · cat health assessment in ER
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Evaluate the clinical utility of the systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) criteria in dogs and cats presenting to an emergency room (ER). DESIGN: Prospective and retrospective observational study, conducted from November 2019 to February 2020. SETTING: Small animal university teaching hospital. ANIMALS: Prospective enrollment of 1143 dogs and 384 cats consecutively presenting to the ER. Retrospective enrollment of 65 healthy dogs and 57 healthy cats consecutively presenting to the primary care (PC) service. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Positive SIRS-3 status was defined as meeting ≥2 of 3 (dogs) or 3 of 3 (cats) of the vital parameter SIRS criteria (temperature, heart rate, and respiratory rate). Positive SIRS-4 status was defined as meeting ≥2 of 4 (dogs) and ≥3 of 4 (cats) of the vital parameter and CBC SIRS criteria. For each species, proportions of SIRS-positive animals were compared between the ER and PC groups. Clinical outcomes were compared between SIRS-positive and SIRS-negative patients presenting to ER. The number of SIRS-3-positive dogs was statistically but not clinically different between the ER (69.9%) and PC (53.8%) groups (P = 0.009). Overall survival rate was 83% for SIRS-3-positive and 89% for SIRS-3-negative dogs presented to ER (P = 0.007). The number of SIRS-3-positive cats did not differ between ER and PC groups (P > 0.999). Overall survival rate was 61.1% for SIRS-4-positive and 86.8% for SIRS-4-negative cats presented to ER (P = 0.012). CONCLUSIONS: Fulfilling the SIRS criteria is common in dogs and rare in cats regardless of presenting service. Meeting SIRS criteria on ER presentation carries a weak negative survival association in dogs and a moderate negative survival association in cats. This study demonstrates that the SIRS criteria have poor discriminatory ability to differentiate healthy from diseased patients and lacks a strong outcome correlation in small animal patients.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37087544/