Effect of age and surgical approach on perioperative wound complication following ovariohysterectomy in shelter-housed cats in Australia

OBJECTIVES The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of age and/or surgical approach on perioperative wound complication following ovariohysterectomy (OHE). METHODS A retrospective search of perioperative monitoring records from a shelter desexing program was conducted to identify cats that underwent OHE between 1 June 2010 and 31 December 2012 inclusive. A wound complication was defined as gross observation of inflammation or wound dehiscence at the surgical site in the 5 day postoperative period. Cases were grouped according to age (≤12 weeks or >12 weeks) and surgical approach (flank or midline). Stratified analyses were conducted to evaluate the association between surgical approach and wound complications, after adjusting for age. Mantel-Haenszel adjusted risk ratio, Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel test statistic and their 95% confidence intervals were presented. RESULTS A total of 312 cases met the study criteria. The overall wound complication risk was low (6.09%) and was not related to age. A midline approach was associated with a 4.59-times increased risk of wound complication, compared with a flank approach in cats up to 12 weeks of age (P = 0.015) but not in older cats. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE These findings support the practice of prepubertal desexing for cats.