Comparison of intraoperative and postoperative pain during canine ovariohysterectomy and ovariectomy.

This study compared physiologic parameters indicating nociception during surgery and pain scores after surgery among dogs undergoing ovariohysterectomy (OHE) and ovariectomy (OVE). Twenty healthy adult female dogs were randomly assigned to either the OHE or the OVE group. Physiologic data collected during surgery included heart rate, respiratory rate, temperature, blood pressure, hemoglobin oxygen saturation, end-tidal CO2 and isoflurane, and vaporizer settings. Postoperative pain was measured using the short form Glasgow Composite Pain Scale, an interactive visual analog scale, and algometry. There were no clinically relevant differences in intraoperative nociception indices between groups. Duration of surgery for OVE was significantly shorter than for OHE (OVE 15.4 minutes, OHE 17.5 minutes, P = 0.04). There was no significant difference between groups in the use of rescue analgesia after surgery, in the average interactive visual analog scale score over the 24-hour postoperative period (P = 0.12), and in algometer readings (P = 0.34).