How Continuous Vital Monitoring Adds Value to Your Veterinary Clinic 

Manual checks capture a moment, but what happens between checks?  

The operation is over, but patient observation shouldn't stop. If the post-operation hours are critical for patient safety, why are patient check-ins reduced to only once every 30 to 60 minutes after the first hour post-operation Forsyth, (2007)?  

A study by Redondo et al. (2023) observing 55,022 dogs across 405 veterinary clinics in multiple countries found that anesthesia-related fatalities occurred throughout the 48 hours following extubation, underscoring the necessity of effective postoperative monitoring

Limitations of Periodic Manual Checks Post-Operation 

According to the study by Redondo et al. (2023), 81% of the anesthesia-related deaths occurred post-operatively. These deaths were spread throughout the 48 hours following extubation with no concentration in the first few hours. Of the deaths related to anesthesia recorded, 11.4% occurred in the operating area post-extubation, 12.7% within the first three hours of hospitalization, 13.2% between three and six hours, 24.9% between six and 24 hours, with 19% coming between 24 and 48 hours.   

Periodic post-operation manual check-ins are often limited by staff availability, as staff often have double the caseload of a human ICU nurse. Intermittent checks require staff to return to the patient each time to assess condition while balancing a demanding workload of monitoring and treating patients, documenting patient condition and administered treatment, communicating with owners, and completing any additional surgery preparation/recovery efforts. These periodic checks reflect the patient's condition at the moment captured; changes between checks can often go unnoticed until it is too late. 

Clinical and Operational Benefits of Continuous Monitoring 

With continuous monitoring, clinics can observe a patient's condition at all times instead of relying on manual, hourly check-ins. Continuous monitoring provides a more comprehensive view of patient status and helps staff identify when a patient needs more immediate attention.  

Veterinary clinics can complement current assessments with ongoing patient observation, providing continuous information, potentially reducing the need for periodic manual checks while enhancing visibility into patient condition.   

Key Benefits of Continuous Monitoring for Veterinary Clinics:

• Ongoing patient visibility

• Trend Identification

• Clinical support

• Workflow support 

• Reducing the need for periodic check-ins

Veterinary Clinic Return on Investment 

H.A.L.O can support veterinary clinic staff's demanding workload by providing continuous patient information between manual checks, reducing repetitive checks while improving insight into patient condition and allowing staff to focus on patients requiring urgent attention.   

Continuous monitoring can also generate more complete patient data, which can be used to identify trends, evaluate monitoring processes, and drive future veterinary innovation. 

H.A.L.O creates value in patient monitoring by improving visibility into patient status, optimizing staff allocation, and enhancing assessment capabilities. Post-operative monitoring is an important part of patient care. H.A.L.O presents the opportunity to make patient monitoring more consistent, comprehensive, and efficient.  

References   

Forsyth, S. (2007). Post-op Monitoring: What to Look For in the Recovering Animal - WSAVA2007 - VIN. Vin.Com. https://www.vin.com/apputil/content/defaultadv1.aspx?id=3860851&pid=11242&print=1 

Redondo, J. I., Otero, P. E., Martínez‐Taboada, F., Domenech, L., Eva Zoe Hernández‐Magaña, & Viscasillas, J. (2023). Anaesthetic mortality in dogs: A worldwide analysis and risk assessment. Veterinary Record, 195(1). https://doi.org/10.1002/vetr.3604