What to expect if your dog is hit by a car based on 239 cases

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To describe a population of dogs with vehicular trauma and to determine whether age, type and severity of injury, or preexisting disease were associated with outcome. DESIGN: Retrospective case series. ANIMALS: 239 dogs evaluated at a university referral hospital after vehicular trauma over a 12-month period. PROCEDURES: Patient characteristics, including age, outcome, animal trauma triage (ATT) score, treatments performed, hospital stay, cost, and preexisting disease, were recorded from medical records of dogs that had vehicular trauma. Dogs were assigned to a young, middle-aged, or geriatric age group. Categoric and continuous variables were compared between survivors and nonsurvivors to identify possible associations. RESULTS: 239 dogs (126 males and 113 females) were evaluated following vehicular trauma during 2001: young (n = 149), middle-aged (68), and geriatric (22). The median ATT score was 3 (range, 0 to 15). Sixteen dogs had preexisting disease. Hospital stay ranged from < 1 to 28 days (median, 3 days). Cost ranged from $77 to $10,636 (median, $853). Two hundred six dogs were discharged. Twenty-six dogs were euthanatized, and 7 died. Dogs that died or were euthanatized had significantly higher ATT scores. The ATT score also was associated with a significantly higher cost of care. Dogs with multiple injuries had significantly higher ATT scores, had increased cost of care, and were significantly more likely to die or be euthanatized. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Increased injury severity in dogs was associated with increased mortality rates and higher cost of treatment.