Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
How reliable is the cat grimace scale after dental extractions
By Watanabe, Ryota et al.·Published in Frontiers in veterinary science·2020·Department of Clinical Sciences, Canada·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Inter-Rater Reliability of the Feline Grimace Scale in Cats Undergoing Dental Extractions.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of 24 cats, averaging about 6 years old, underwent dental extractions and were assessed for pain using the Feline Grimace Scale (FGS). This scale looks at facial expressions to help determine how much pain a cat is in. The study found that the FGS is a reliable way to evaluate pain in these cats, regardless of whether their caregivers were present during the assessment. This means that veterinarians can confidently use this scale to help manage pain after dental procedures.
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Abstract
This study aimed to evaluate the inter-rater reliability of the Feline Grimace Scale (FGS) in cats undergoing dental extractions and the effects of the caregiver's presence on the FGS scores. Twenty-four cats (6 ± 3.3 years old; 4.9 ± 1.7 kg) undergoing oral treatment were included in a prospective, blinded, randomized, clinical study. They underwent treatment under general anesthesia (acepromazine-hydromorphone-propofol-isoflurane-meloxicam-local anesthetic blocks) at day 1 and were discharged at day 6. Images of cat faces were captured from video recordings with or without the caregiver's presence at 6 h postoperatively (day 1), day 6, and before and after rescue analgesia. Images were randomized and independently evaluated by four raters using the FGS [five action units (AU): ear position, orbital tightening, muzzle tension, whiskers change, and head position; score 0-2 for each]. Inter-rater reliability and the effects of the caregiver's presence were analyzed with intraclass correlation coefficient [single measures (95% confidence interval)] and the Wilcoxon signed-rank test, respectively (< 0.05). A total of 91 images were scored. Total FGS scores showed good inter-rater reliability [0.84 (0.77-0.89)]. Reliability for each AU was: ears [0.68 (0.55-0.78)], orbital tightening [0.76 (0.65-0.84)], muzzle [0.56 (0.43-0.69)], whiskers [0.64 (0.50-0.76)], and head position [0.74 (0.63-0.82)]. The FGS scores were not different with [0.075 (0-0.325)] or without [0.088 (0-0.525)] the caregivers' presence (= 0.12). The FGS is a reliable tool for pain assessment in cats undergoing dental extractions. The caregiver's presence did not affect FGS scores.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32548134/