Quality of life following mechanical ventilation in dogs and cats

Abstract

Background: Mechanical ventilation is frequently performed in small animal critical care medicine with well-documented survival data; quality of life in these patients following discharge from hospital is unknown. Key findings: Owners of patients surviving to discharge following mechanical ventilation were surveyed with an open ended and ranking score questionnaire. Response rate was 57% (27/47). All respondents rated their pet's quality of life prior to the illness necessitating ventilation as good to excellent (8/10-10/10). Perceived recovery periods ranged from 0 days to 6 months (the most common response being 2-3 weeks). Fourteen owners stated that their pets' quality of life was as good or better than previously. Patients with persistent quality of life concerns (n = 3) had been ventilated for neurological disease. Four owners reported changed behaviors such as startling easily or being excessively responsive to noise. One cat became deaf and at time of survey had not regained hearing. Commonly reported problems included decreased exercise tolerance (n = 3). All respondents stated that they would ventilate their pet again. Significance: Cats and dogs that are mechanically ventilated appear to recover with minimal adverse effect on their quality of life. Patients ventilated for neurological conditions may be more likely to experience quality of life limitations.

Retrospective evaluation of the outcome and prognosis of undergoing positive pressure ventilation due to cardiac and noncardiac causes in dogs and cats (2019–2020): 101 cases

“…We could not calculate the MST for the control group since they were all alive at the time of last follow‐up. In a recent report by Donaldson and Barfield, 16 an MST of 22 months was found in a general population of ventilated cats and dogs surviving to discharge.…”

“…Positive pressure ventilation may also be useful for patients with pulmonary edema because it reverses hypoxemia and reduces metabolic demand. 7 Previous studies evaluating the overall survival to discharge rate for dogs and cats undergoing PPV reported survival rates between 15% and 71%, [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] with a worse prognosis for pulmonary parenchymal disease compared to neuromuscular disease reported in all studies. The control group in the present study had only one patient ventilated due to neuromuscular disease, which may have affected the overall survival rate for this group.…”

“…[5][6][7] The all-cause survival rate of dogs and cats undergoing PPV has been shown to range between 15% and 71%, with a worse prognosis for parenchymal pulmonary disease than for neuromuscular disease. [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] Edwards et al described the outcome of PPV in 10 dogs and 6 cats with L-CHF and found an overall survival to discharge rate of 62%. 15 To the best of the authors' knowledge, there are no large-scale studies comparing PPV outcomes between dogs and cats with L-CHF and those with extracardiac disease.…”

“…The all‐cause survival rate of dogs and cats undergoing PPV has been shown to range between 15% and 71%, with a worse prognosis for parenchymal pulmonary disease than for neuromuscular disease 8–16 . Edwards et al.…”