The report will support practices in improving outcomes.

A new benchmarking report into the neutering of dogs, cats and rabbits is expected to improve outcomes of the procedure in veterinary practices.

The data was submitted voluntarily by practices to the National Audit for Small Animal Neutering (NASAN), a service managed by RCVS Knowledge.

It has been compiled into a report that covers routine neutering procedures performed on 63,276 dogs, cats and rabbits in the UK. The data, from 256 practices in the UK, will enable veterinary teams across the country to compare their outcomes against a national benchmark.

The report has five different post-operative outcomes: no abnormality present, abnormal but no treatment necessary, abnormal requiring medical treatment, abnormal requiring surgical intervention, and fatality.

A sixth category also covered those ‘lost to follow-up’, meaning the pet was not brought for a follow-up appointment.

The findings found that, for 70.84 per cent of cases, there was no abnormality present after neutering.

The logged data also found that 8.79 per cent of patients experienced an abnormality that did not require intervention. However, 6.8 per cent required additional treatment and 0.84 per cent required surgical intervention.

The least common category was ‘fatality’, with only 0.09 per cent of procedures leading to this outcome.

Data also shows that 12.64 per cent of recorded cases did not return for a follow-up appointment.

The latest report includes species-specific information on dogs, cats and rabbits, separated into spays, castrates and laparoscopic bitch spays. In the 2024 report participants are also able to record the breed and weight of each animal, as well as the type of neuter – including flank, midline and cryptorchid procedures.

Pam Mosedale, clinical lead at RCVS Knowledge, said: “Benchmarking reports like this one are invaluable in helping veterinary teams improve outcomes in practice. Comparing your own results to a national average can give you a clearer picture of how you’re doing.

“Your results may be better than you think they are! Once you’ve analysed your own results against the benchmarks, you can start to identify areas where you can improve.”

The 2023 NASAN report is available here. The NASAN Resource Hub also provides practical information and evidence for practices looking to improve their neutering outcomes.

Practices wishing to contribute their own data can do so here.

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