To report the incidence of bandage-associated complications in cats following clean orthopaedic injury.Multi-institutional retrospective case series of 152 client-owned cats. Medical records were searched for cats that had a bandage placed after a clean orthopaedic injury.
Data collected included: signalment, diagnosis, anatomical region, orthopaedic procedure, professional role of the person applying the bandage (specialist/resident/nurse), bandage duration, complications, and outcomes.A total of 152 cats had bandages placed after clean orthopaedic injuries.
Complications were reported in 104 cats (68.4%). Bandage-related complications were mild in 64.4% cases, moderate in 32.7% cases, and severe 2.9% of cases. If a cat had a splint placed, it was 3.4 times more likely to have a more severe complication compared with a cat which did not require a splint.Bandage complications occur frequently in cats, and the use of splints was a significant predictor of increased complication severity.
Clinicians should be particularly vigilant when bandaging limbs in cats, as complications secondary to bandaging occur frequently. These findings underscore the importance of appropriate case selection for bandage application and monitoring strategies to minimize the risk of complications.
