Epidemiological profile of canine and feline otitis in a University Veterinary Hospital: a retrospective study

Abstract

The objective of this work was to analyze the cases of otitis in companion animals treated at the Veterinary Hospital Jeremias Pereira da Silva / Universidade Federal do Piauí (UFPI) and the profile of antimicrobial drugs used in the treatment of these infections. A retrospective cross-sectional observational epidemiological study was carried out on the assisted animals with otitis at the Veterinary Hospital Jeremias Pereira da Silva / (UFPI), during the period from January 2015 to December 2020, through access to the registration system called “Doctorvet”, evaluating the characteristics of the patients treated, the diagnosis and therapy adopted and the clinical response to these services. Mixed breed dogs (MBDs), with bilateral presentation of this disease and the presence of comorbidities were frequent occurrences in the animals treated. Antibiotic prescriptions of aminoglycosides (Gentamicin and Neomycin) were the most used, in formulations associated with other substances, such as antifungals and anti-inflammatories, with the commercial presentation Aurivet being the most prescribed and the one that received the greatest number of favorable reports. However, the use of other different therapeutic protocols was evidenced without justification for this choice. Establishing therapeutic protocols to be followed by veterinary clinicians, when treating otitis, and monitoring the success or failure of these prescriptions, will contribute to reveal much more than the epidemiological profile of the etiologic agents, but the adequate use of antimicrobial agents, controlling the increase in rates of antibiotic resistance, as well as consolidating promising therapeutic approaches for these infections.