Gênero e experiência do avaliador na percepção de dor pós-operatória em cadelas e gatas

Abstract

Pain should not be overlooked in animals and the effectiveness of its treatment depends on reliable identification and assessment. Although there are studies correlating pain scores with the gender of the evaluator based on the completion of questionnaires, there are no prospective studies of canine and feline pain assessment that confirm these differences. The present study aimed to determine if the gender and the experience of the evaluators interfere with the postoperative pain perception in canines and felines when different pain assessment scales are used. The data were obtained through the analysis of pain assessment forms performed at the Veterinary Hospital of the Federal University of Santa Maria. Sixteen blinded treatment evaluators were randomly assigned to four groups: GMI (inexperienced male group), GME (experienced male group), GFI (inexperienced female group) and GFE (experienced female group). Eighty animals (40 cats and 40 female dogs) were randomly assigned to 2 groups, surgical group (CG) and non-surgical group (CNG). Only the CG group underwent surgical procedure. Pain assessments were performed using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS), Colorado State University Acute Pain Scale (CAPS), Melbourne University Pain Scale (UMPS) and Glasgow Composite Scale (GCMPS) for canines and, EVA, Colorado State University Feline Acute Pain Scale (CAPS-F), Glasgow Composite Climbing (GCMPS-F) and UNESP-Botucatu Multidimensional Scale (EUNESP) for felines. Baseline evaluation (Mbasal) occurred one hour before the surgical procedure, followed by evaluations after 15 minutes (M1), two hours (M2) and four hours (M3) after discharge from the operating room. A total of 1280 evaluations were performed, being 640 evaluations by species and 320 by evaluator group. Males scored significantly higher than females with CAPS on canines. In felines, gender and treatment interaction was significant for the VAS scale, and experience and treatment interaction was significant for the EVA, EUNESP and GCMPS-F pain assessment scales. It was concluded that the gender and the experience of the evaluators should be considered when choosing the pain evaluation method to be used in these species.