Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
How anesthesia affects dog hospital stay length and cost
By Smith, Melissa D et al.·Published in Veterinary anaesthesia and analgesia·2017·Department of Large Animal Medicine, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Retrospective study of intra-anesthetic predictors of prolonged hospitalization, increased cost of care and mortality for canine patients at a veterinary teaching hospital.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A study looked at 235 dogs that underwent general anesthesia to see how certain factors affected their recovery time, hospital costs, and survival rates. It found that dogs with higher ASA status (a measure of their health before surgery) tended to stay longer in the intensive care unit and had higher hospitalization costs. The research also indicated that older dogs, heavier dogs, and those that received certain treatments, like colloids (a type of fluid), had a higher risk of complications and lower chances of survival. Overall, the findings suggest that careful monitoring of these factors during surgery could help improve outcomes for dogs.
People also search for: dog anesthesia recovery time · dog surgery costs · dog survival after anesthesia
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To determine the impact of intraoperative anesthetic variables on the length of hospitalization, cost of care and mortality in dogs. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective, observational study. ANIMALS: A total of 235 dogs undergoing general anesthesia. METHODS: Medical records of dogs undergoing general anesthesia between 2007 and 2014 at the University of Georgia Veterinary Teaching Hospital were reviewed. Data collected included demographic data, American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) physical status, type and duration of anesthesia, hemodynamic variables, temperature, ventilation, fluid therapy and adjunctive drugs administered. Outcome variables were length of hospitalization in the intensive care unit (ICU), hospital charges and survival to discharge. RESULTS: The only factor significantly associated with duration of ICU care was higher ASA status (p<0.0001). Factors associated with increased cost of hospitalization were ICU duration (p<0.0001), anesthesia duration (p<0.0001), hemorrhage amount (p<0.0001), colloid use (p=0.0081), increased age (p=0.0253), increased weight (p = 0.0293) and presence of hypertension (p=0.0179). Overall mortality rate was 5.1%. The only factors negatively associated with survival were the administration of colloids (p<0.0008) and ASA status (p=0.0314). CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Several intrinsic patient factors and intraoperative hemodynamic variables were significantly associated with postoperative morbidity and mortality in dogs. These factors might have prognostic value in conjunction with preoperative risk assessment, and patient outcome may be improved by stricter intraoperative control of these variables.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29174211/