Narrative operative reports inconsistently record surgical information relating to resection of soft tissue sarcomas and mast cell tumors in dogs.

Abstract

To report to what degree narrative operative reports for soft tissue sarcoma (STS) and mast cell tumor (MCT) resections met a predetermined template made up of essential elements. 197 consecutive client-owned animals between May 1, 2017, and August 1, 2022. A consensus list of 9 elements made up the final synoptic operative report (SR) template. Consecutive narrative surgery reports (NRs) of dogs that underwent MCT or STS resection were then reviewed to determine how many of the SR elements were present in each NR. A score was then determined for each NR out of a maximum total of 9. Overall, 197 reports (99 MCT and 98 STS) were included. The median score was 5 (56% of elements reported). No report had all 9 elements, and 1 report had none of the elements reported. When MCT and STS were analyzed independently, the median score was 6 (67% of elements reported) for MCT and 5 (56% of elements reported) for STS. There was a trend of more cases with MCT that had a preoperative diagnosis, intraoperative measurements of the tumor, and surgeon margins marked compared to dogs with STS. More dogs with STS had an estimated Enneking dose compared to dogs with MCT. Our data show that essential elements of STS and MCT resection in dogs were inconsistently recorded and no case had all elements present. This mirrors data in people and presses the need for more standardization in reporting of cancer operations in veterinary medicine.