Loss of consciousness from a neurologist’s perspective

Abstract

Loss of consciousness is a common symptomatology in small animal neurology. Facing with such a patient, the veterinarian should be able to quickly identify if the patient is in an emergency status and to treat it in consequence and to follow a clinical algorithm (based on anamnesis and clinical neurological examination) in order to have a final diagnosis, to be able to initiate a targeted treatment and to offer the right prognosis. In this paper, we summarize the main three possible scenarios of transient/permanent loss of consciousness observed in small animal practice.