Affiliation:
1. Department of Clinical Sciences Colorado State University Fort Collins Colorado USA
2. Central Victoria Veterinary Hospital VCA Canada Victoria British Columbia Canada
3. Locum Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Specialist Douglas Alaska USA
4. Sydney School of Veterinary Science Faculty of Science University of Sydney Sydney New South Wales Australia
5. VACCA LLC Minneapolis Minnesota USA
Abstract
AbstractObjectiveTo report summative data from the American College of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Veterinary Committee on Trauma (VetCOT) registry.DesignMulti‐institutional registry data report, April 1, 2017 to December 31, 2019.SettingVetCOT identified and verified Veterinary Trauma Centers (VTCs).AnimalsDogs and cats with evidence of trauma.InterventionsData were input to a web‐based data capture system (Research Electronic Data Capture) by data entry personnel trained in data software use and operational definitions of data variables. Data on demographics, trauma type, preadmission care, trauma severity assessment at presentation (modified Glasgow Coma Scale and Animal Trauma Triage score), key laboratory parameters, interventions, and case outcome were collected. Summary descriptive data for each species are reported.Measurements and Main ResultsThirty‐one VTCs contributed data from 20,842 canine and 4003 feline trauma cases during the 33‐month reporting period. Most cases presented directly to a VTC (82.1% dogs, 82.1% cats). Admission to hospital rates were slightly lower in dogs (27.8%) than cats (32.7%). Highest mortality rates by mechanism of injury in dogs were struck by vehicle (18.3%), ballistic injury (17.6%), injured inside vehicle (13.2%), nonpenetrating bite wound (10.2%), and choking/pulling injury (8.5%). Highest mortality rates by mechanism of injury in cats were struck by vehicle (43.3%), ejected from vehicle (33.3%), nonpenetrating bite wound (30.7%), ballistic injury (27.8%), and choking/pulling injury (25.0%). The proportion of animals surviving to discharge was 93.1% (dogs) and 82.5% (cats).ConclusionsThe VetCOT registry is a powerful resource for collection of a large dataset on trauma in dogs and cats seen at VTCs. Overall survival to discharge was high indicating low injury severity for most recorded cases. Further evaluation of data on subsets of injury types, patient assessment parameters, interventions, and associated outcome are warranted. Data from the registry can be leveraged to inform clinical trial design and justification for naturally occurring trauma as a translational model to improve veterinary and human trauma patient outcome.