A randomized trial to compare smooth monofilament suture vs. barbed suture using the three-layer continuous closure technique in canine ovariohysterectomy in a high-quality high-volume spay/neuter clinic.

The primary objective of this study was to compare time efficiency and complication rates between smooth monofilament suture (SMS) and barbed suture (BS) using the three-layer continuous incisional closure pattern after ovariohysterectomy in a high-quality high-volume spay/neuter clinic. The study was designed as a randomized controlled trial enrolling 71 adult female dogs. Dogs were randomly assigned to SMS or BS treatments.

Epidemiology's Adoption of System Dynamics is a Natural Extension of Population Thinking.

Epidemiologists have adopted systems thinking as an approach to understanding why health conditions occur in animal populations beyond the knowledge of simple linear relationships. Beef production systems are complex adaptive systems and decisions and policies throughout the system can positively or negatively affect the health of cattle. Those decisions may occur far removed in time or place from the health event and may be logical in the context of other factors in the system.

Sedation with dexmedetomidine is associated with transient gallbladder wall thickening and peritoneal effusion in some dogs undergoing abdominal ultrasonography.

Background: Dexmedetomidine often is used for sedation before or during abdominal ultrasonography. The effect of dexmedetomidine on gallbladder wall thickness is unknown.

Hypothesis/objectives: To investigate the relationship between dexmedetomidine administration and gallbladder wall thickening in dogs.

Factors Associated with Shelter Dog Euthanasia versus Live Release by Adoption or Transfer in the United States.

The objective of this study was to identify phenotypic characteristics predicting the outcome of euthanasia for dogs entering shelters compared to live release. Individual dog records for 2017 were requested from shelters in five states (Mississippi, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Colorado, and Oklahoma) receiving municipal funding and using electronic records. Duplicate dogs were removed and records from 17 shelters were merged into a dataset of 25,047 unique dogs with variables of breed, gender, coat color, size, age, region, and time in shelter.

Factors associated with rabies vaccination of dog shelter staff in the United States.

US animal shelters house and care for dogs with unknown medical histories. Such unknown medical backgrounds pose concern for zoonotic transmission of diseases to the shelter staff. One important zoonotic exposure is to rabies virus which is almost always fatal after the onset of symptoms.

Switching and Discontinuation Patterns Among Patients Stable on Originator Infliximab Who Switched to an Infliximab Biosimilar or Remained on Originator Infliximab.

Objective: To compare switching and discontinuation patterns of patients stable on originator infliximab (IFX) who switched to an IFX biosimilar (switchers) or remained on originator IFX (continuers) in the United States.

Methods: Symphony Health Solutions' Patient Transactional Datasets (10/2012-03/2019) were used to identify adults with ≥2 claims for either rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriatic arthritis, plaque psoriasis, ankylosing spondylitis, or inflammatory bowel disease (IBD); and ≥1 claim for originator or biosimilar IFX. The index date was the first IFX biosimilar claim for switchers or a random originator IFX claim for continuers.

The Number of Dogs Entering Shelters in Five States, and Factors that Affect Their Outcomes: A Study of the Sheltering System.

As there are few requirements for mandatory registration or reporting for humane animal organizations, it is difficult to quantify how many dogs enter such organizations annually, or know their outcomes. Our objectives were to quantify the number of dogs entering animal shelters in five states in 2017, and determine factors that influenced their outcomes. A census was conducted of shelters in five states from each geographical region of the US.

Phenotypic Characteristics Associated with Shelter Dog Adoption in the United States.

The objective of this study was to identify phenotypic characteristics of dogs predictive of adoption after being received into a shelter. Individual dog records for 2017 were requested from shelters in five states that received municipal funding and utilized electronic record keeping methods. Records from 17 shelters were merged into a dataset of 19,514 potentially adoptable dogs.

An Estimate of the Number of Dogs in US Shelters in 2015 and the Factors Affecting Their Fate.

The objective of this study was to estimate the total number of shelters in the United States; estimate the number of dogs entering US shelters annually; determine what happens to the dogs that enter shelters; and identify the characteristics of shelters affecting the outcome of the dogs in their care. An initial list of 10,890 animal shelter and rescue organizations was refined to include 2862 organizations. A telephone survey of each shelter was conducted.

Sharp transection of the suspensory ligament as an alternative to digital strumming during canine ovariohysterectomy.

Objective: To compare time efficiency and nociceptive input between digital strumming (DS) and sharp transection (ST) of the suspensory ligament during ovariohysterectomy (OVH).

Study Design: Randomized controlled trial.

Animals: 30 adult female dogs.

Prevalence of canine heartworm infection in Mississippi animal shelters.

Understanding diagnosis of heartworm disease in the context of animal shelters' needs and expectations is crucial for developing guidelines that specifically address the unique shelter population. Accurate and economical heartworm testing strategies are essential. However, current comprehensive guidelines for the management of heartworm disease in dogs are directed toward client-owned animals and do not address needs of animal shelters and other resource-scarce facilities.

Risk Factors, Health Care Resource Utilization, and Costs Associated with Nonadherence to Antiretrovirals in Medicaid-Insured Patients with HIV.

Background: Adherence to antiretrovirals (ARVs) is critical to achieving durable virologic suppression.

Objective: To investigate risk factors of poor adherence and the effect of suboptimal adherence on health care resource utilization (HCRU) and costs in Medicaid patients.

Methods: A retrospective longitudinal study was conducted using Medicaid data.

Clinically Prepared Veterinary Students: Enhancing Veterinary Student Hands-on Experiences and Supporting Hospital Caseload Using Shelter Medicine Program.

Referral-level medicine is important in the veterinary curriculum, however veterinary students also need a solid base knowledge of clinically relevant, routine surgical and diagnostic skills to be clinically prepared after graduation. Exposure to a referral-only, or primarily referral caseload, does not always provide veterinary students with the routine hands-on experiences and competencies expected by the American Veterinary Medical Association Council on Education, the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, the Australian Veterinary Boards Council, or prospective employers. The aim of this descriptive study was to assess how a shelter medicine program can fill the companion animal caseload gap and create the necessary hands-on experiences considered essential in the veterinary curriculum.

Uterus unicornis and pregnancy in two feline littermates.

Case Series Summary: A queen, tom and four 1-year-old female offspring presented for routine neuter. Two of the littermates (cats 1 and 2) were diagnosed with a uterine abnormality during surgery. The left uterine horn of both cats appeared as a thin, solid, cord-like structure, whereas the right uterine horn of both cats appeared to have intermittent bulges consistent with pregnancy.

Caregiver burden in schizophrenia following paliperidone palmitate long acting injectables treatment: pooled analysis of two double-blind randomized phase three studies.

Unlabelled: The pooled analysis of two double-blind, randomized, multicenter, phase-3 studies evaluated predictors of improvement or worsening of schizophrenia-related caregiver burden following paliperidone palmitate long-acting injectables (1-monthly [PP1M] and 3-monthly [PP3M]) treatment. Caregivers were offered to complete the involvement evaluation questionnaire (involvement evaluation questionnaire; 31-item scale). Total, 1498 caregivers (intent-to-treat open-label analysis set, n = 1497; mean [SD] age: 51.

Health care resource use analysis of paliperidone palmitate 3 month injection from two phase 3 clinical trials.

Objective: The objective of this study was to compare occupational status and health care resource use between treatment groups in clinical trials 3012 (PP3M versus placebo) and 3011 (PP3M versus PP1M).

Methods: Occupational status was assessed at each study visit. Logistic regressions modeled the probability of hospitalization during the double-blind phase.

The Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine Shelter Program.

The shelter program at the Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine provides veterinary students with extensive experience in shelter animal care including spay/neuter, basic wellness care, diagnostics, medical management, disease control, shelter management and biosecurity. Students spend five days at shelters in the junior year of the curriculum and two weeks working on mobile veterinary units in their senior year. The program helps meet accreditation standards of the American Veterinary Medical Association's Council on Education that require students to have hands-on experience and is in keeping with recommendations from the North American Veterinary Medical Education Consortium.

Anxiety tied to fear of falling · fatigue · difficulty concentrating · Dx?

A 21-year-old college student was referred to us by the counseling center at our university for a psychiatric evaluation after 11 psychotherapy sessions over 3 months had failed to reduce her feelings of anxiety and panic.

Evaluation of management treatments intended to increase lamb recruitment in a bighorn sheep herd.

We administered a suite of treatments to a herd of Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis canadensis) that was experiencing poor lamb recruitment and showing signs of respiratory disease. Despite 3 yr of treatment with various combinations of anthelmentics, antibiotics, vaccines, and hyperimmune serum products, recruitment was not improved.

Outcomes associated with initiation of tiotropium or fluticasone/salmeterol in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Introduction: Adherence to long-acting bronchodilator therapy for management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a critical clinical and cost issue. Low adherence is associated with relatively higher exacerbation rates and illness burden.

Purpose: To compare adherence between patients with COPD initiating therapy on tiotropium or fluticasone/salmeterol and examine the association between adherence and respiratory-related costs.

Venous thromboembolism prophylaxis after total knee or hip replacement: treatment pattern and outcomes.

Purpose: To determine the thromboprophylactic treatment pattern and occurrence of venous thromboembolism (VTE), major bleeding, and wound infections in patients undergoing total knee replacement (TKR) or total hip replacement (THR).

Methods: From the PHARMO database, all patients ≥ 18 years hospitalized for TKR or THR between January 2003 and September 2008 were selected. Patients with pharmacy data up to 3 months after hospitalization were included in the study cohort.

Identifying and characterizing COPD patients in US managed care. A retrospective, cross-sectional analysis of administrative claims data.

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the fourth leading cause of death among US adults and is projected to be the third by 2020. In anticipation of the increasing burden imposed on healthcare systems and payers by patients with COPD, a means of identifying COPD patients who incur higher healthcare utilization and costs is needed.

Methods: This retrospective, cross-sectional analysis of US managed care administrative claims data describes a practical way to identify COPD patients.