Alicia Z. Karas

Use of wound soaker catheters for the administration of local anesthetic for post-operative analgesia: 56 cases

OBJECTIVE To describe the administration of local anesthetic through wound soaker catheters for post-operative veterinary patients and to characterize complications. STUDY DESIGN Retrospective study of hospital records. ANIMALS Records of patients in which a wound soaker catheter was placed post-operatively between November 1, 2004 and July 1, 2006 at a veterinary teaching hospital. Records in which a limb amputation was performed between January 1, 2002 and August 1, 2007 and in which a wound soaker catheter was not placed were reviewed for historic control. RESULTS A total of 56 cases were identified in which a wound soaker catheter was placed post-operatively including 52 dogs, 2 cats, and 2 goats. Twenty canine cases were identified in which limb amputation was performed and no wound soaker catheter was placed. The majority of surgical procedures for which a wound soaker catheter was placed included thoracic limb amputation (46.4%) and pelvic limb amputation (35.7%). Wound soaker catheters remained in place for an average of 1.6 +/- 0.5 days. Feline and caprine patients received intermittent bupivacaine boluses every 6 hours. Canine patients received continuous lidocaine infusions. Complications included disconnection of the catheter from the infusion (7.7%), one seroma, and one suspected lidocaine neurotoxicity. Incisional infections were noted in 3/56 (5.3%) limb amputations with wound soaker catheters placed which was not higher than the incisional infection rate found in the historic control cases 3/20 (15%). CONCLUSION AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE Use of the wound soaker catheter was a viable means of providing local analgesia in post-operative veterinary patients. Studies are needed to evaluate efficacy of pain management, and to further investigate techniques for catheter placement and maintenance which may help to optimize the analgesia achieved using this technique.

Nest building as an indicator of health and welfare in laboratory mice.

The minimization and alleviation of suffering has moral and scientific implications. In order to mitigate this negative experience one must be able to identify when an animal is actually in distress. Pain, illness, or distress cannot be managed if unrecognized. Evaluation of pain or illness typically involves the measurement of physiologic and behavioral indicators which are either invasive or not suitable for large scale assessment. The observation of nesting behavior shows promise as the basis of a species appropriate cage-side assessment tool for recognizing distress in mice. Here we demonstrate the utility of nest building behavior in laboratory mice as an ethologically relevant indicator of welfare. The methods presented can be successfully used to identify thermal stressors, aggressive cages, sickness, and pain. Observation of nest building behavior in mouse colonies provides a refinement to health and well-being assessment on a day to day basis.

Psychogenic Stress in Hospitalized Dogs: Cross Species Comparisons, Implications for Health Care, and the Challenges of Evaluation

Simple Summary The effects of stress on health outcomes in animals are well documented. Veterinary clinicians may be able to improve their patients’ care by better understanding how to recognize and reduce stress in those patients. This review will describe the physiology of the mammalian stress response and known health consequences of psychogenic, rather than physical, stress; as well as methods of measuring stress in animals. While the review will address stress in a range of domestic species, it will specifically focus on dogs. Abstract Evidence to support the existence of health consequences of psychogenic stress has been documented across a range of domestic species. A general understanding of methods of recognition and means of mitigation of psychogenic stress in hospitalized animals is arguably an important feature of the continuing efforts of clinicians to improve the well-being and health of dogs and other veterinary patients. The intent of this review is to describe, in a variety of species: the physiology of the stress syndrome, with particular attention to the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis; causes and characteristics of psychogenic stress; mechanisms and sequelae of stress-induced immune dysfunction; and other adverse effects of stress on health outcomes. Following that, we describe general aspects of the measurement of stress and the role of physiological measures and behavioral signals that may predict stress in hospitalized animals, specifically focusing on dogs.

Barriers to assessment and treatment of pain in laboratory animals.

Pain is an undesirable potential consequence of many of the procedures conducted on animals in the course of scientific research, and in most cases it is unnecessary. The US Congress, the public, and laboratory animal medical professionals have indicated that pain should be prevented or minimized in laboratory animals, yet there is ample evidence to suggest that unalleviated pain is still a problem for some laboratory animals. This evidence is circumstantial to some extent but has its basis in problematic issues of pain control in both veterinary and human medicine. The author attempts to identify specific barriers to reduction of pain in laboratory animals. She then seeks to determine the relative importance of each obstacle and to develop approaches to overcoming each obstacle.

Sedation and anesthesia of pet rabbits

Pet rabbits frequently become stressed when handled and may require sedation or chemical immobilization for procedures such as blood collection, IV catheter placement, radiography, deep ear cleaning, and dentistry. Common surgical procedures requiring general anesthesia include spay, castration, gastrotomy, cystotomy, and orthopedic procedures. Rabbits may be difficult to safely sedate or anesthetize. Individual rabbits may have varying sensitivity to the depressant effects of anesthetics. The apparent sensitivity of the rabbits respiratory center to anesthetic drugs and the narrow range between anesthetic and toxic doses in this species add to the unpredictable character of rabbit anesthesia. Furthermore, mortality following anesthesia and surgery in sick rabbits is common. Strategically, safe anesthesia of rabbits must include the planning of procedures so that anesthetic time is minimized. Clinicians must be on guard for individual variation in response to drugs. Minimizing the use of cardiovascular depressant agents, use of agents with a high therapeutic index, and careful titration of doses to effect, along with thorough cardiorespiratory monitoring, will permit attainment of appropriate anesthetic depth with the widest margin of safety. This article presents several injectable and inhalant anesthetic protocols that may assist in effective management of many types of rabbit patient.

Postoperative analgesia in the laboratory mouse, Mus musculus.

Despite increased use of surgical procedures on mice, little is known about postoperative analgesia in this species, and there has been some argument regarding its necessity. The author reviews the literature on this controversial issue.

Housing condition and nesting experience do not affect the Time to Integrate to Nest Test (TINT)

Managing and assessing well-being in laboratory mice (Mus musculus) is both challenging and necessary. Assessments intended to detect negative welfare states in mice are usually performed via observation of animals in the home cage, but a substantial amount of time and skill may be required to detect subtle behavioural changes. The Time to Integrate to Nest Test (TINT) is a simple, cageside assessment tool that identifies the presence or absence of a highly motivated normal behaviour in mice. The test is conducted by adding a small amount of new nesting material to a mouse cage. A positive outcome is achieved when this new material is integrated into the home nest within 10 min. This study examined whether housing condition or nesting experience affects TINT outcome. Single or group housing did not influence the TINT outcome, but a significant difference in latency to integration was found; singly housed mice took longer than group-housed mice to integrate TINT substrate. Mice which were raised naive to nesting material had no significant delays when tested. However, experience with the TINT procedure showed increased speed to incorporate the testing substrate, indicating that previous experience to the paradigm prior to experimental testing may be necessary. These findings help to define the expected outcomes of the TINT, better positioning it for use as an assessment tool in varied research settings.