Current trends in the management of canine traumatic brain injury: An Internet-based survey.

This study characterized trends in management of canine traumatic brain injury (TBI) among 182 small animal veterinarians grouped as follows: Board-certified specialists at a veterinary teaching hospital (BCS-VTH), Board-certified specialists in private practice (BCS-PP), non-specialists at a teaching hospital (DVM-VTH), and non-specialists in private practice (DVM-PP). The BCS-VTH, BSC-PP, and DVM-VTH groups were more comfortable using the modified Glasgow Coma Scale (MGCS) than the DVM-PP group (P < 0.001, P < 0.001, and P = 0.009, respectively). All respondents chose the following diagnostics most frequently: packed cell volume/total solids (95.6%), blood glucose (96.7%), and blood pressure (95.0%). The DVM-VTH group chose the following more frequently than the DVM-PP group: computed tomography (19.4% versus 4.5%; P = 0.027), venous or arterial blood gas (83.9% versus 46.3%; P < 0.001), electrocardiography (71.0% versus 44.8%; P = 0.018), lactate (87.1% versus 59.7%; P = 0.009), and brief thoracic ultrasound (87.1% versus 62.7%; P = 0.017). BCS-PP chose hypertonic saline more frequently than DVM-PP (94.1% versus 74.6%; P = 0.005). The DVM-PP group chose corticosteroid therapy and anticonvulsant therapy more frequently than BCS-PP (10.4% versus 0.0%; P = 0.019; 73.1% versus 43.1%; P = 0.004, respectively). This study highlights variability in management of canine TBI.