Signalment

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From the course by The University of Edinburgh

EDIVET: Do you have what it takes to be a veterinarian?

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The University of Edinburgh

EDIVET: Do you have what it takes to be a veterinarian?

758 ratings

This course is for anyone interested in learning more about Veterinary Medicine, giving a “taster” of courses covered in the first year of a veterinary degree and an idea of what it is like to study Veterinary Medicine.

From the lesson

An Introduction to Clinical Skills

In this week, we will be introducing you to Veterinary Clinical Skills, led by Catriona Bell and assisted by Caroline Mosley. We are also joined in one of the videos by our colleague Neil Hudson. Again please start with the week 4 overview and then work through the core materials as presented.

Introduction to Week 44:22

Observation Skills8:32

Vital Signs9:16

General Examination Skills6:47

Meet the Instructors

Dr Jessie Paterson
BSc (Hons) Agricultural Chemistry, PhD, PgDip
Lecturer in Student Learning
Kay Aitchison
BSc Agriculture (Hons Animal Production Science)
Lecturer in Farm Animal Husbandry
Prof Susan Rhind
BVMS, PhD, FRCPath, PFHEA, MRCVS
Professor of Veterinary Medical Education
Dr Gurå Therese Bergkvist
BSc Hons (Vet Sci), BVM&S, PhD, MRCVS
Lecturer, Preclinical Veterinary Sciences
Rachel Whittington
BVSC MRCVS
Lecturer in Professional Skills
Dr Catriona Bell
BVetMed, PhD, PGCAP, MRCVS
Senior Lecturer in Veterinary Education
Dr Andrew Gardiner
BVM&S, Cert SAS, MSc, PhD, MRCVS
Veterinary Clinical Senior Lecturer

In the veterinary world, the term signalment describes important basic

information about a patient namely the species, breed, age, and sex.

We further classify sex according to whether the animal is entire,

which means that none of its reproductive organs have been removed.

Or whether it is neutered, which means that it has been castrated in a male

animal or spayed in a female animal.

The signalment can give important background information,

which can help rule in or out certain diagnoses.

For example, pregnancy can be ruled out as a cause of abdominal distention in

a geriatric, female, neutered chihuahua.

Similarly, if an adult Cavalier King Charles Spaniel presents with signs of

coughing and exercising intolerance, the veterinarian surgeon would be likely to

investigate endocardiosis as a possible diagnosis.

As this breed is particularly predisposed to the condition.

If you remember back to week two of this MOOC, endocardiosis was a disease that you

learned about which leads to distortion of heart valves and

possibly secondary heart failure.

Coming back to the signalment, this is often the first thing that we state when

we discuss a case with colleagues.

And our final year students do this when they present their cases at ward rounds in

the hospitals before they move on to describe further details about the animal.

In addition, for the reasons that we've just outlined, if you are an owner

phoning a veterinary surgeon for advice about your animal, it can be very helpful

to describe their signalment at the start of the conversation.

So just to remind you, the signalment of an animal refers to its species,

breed, age, and sex.

When we look at this dog and we also refer to our clinical records for it,

we can describe its signalment as a 12 year old male, entire, black labrador dog.

Over the next few minutes, we'll be working on using our observation skills to

describe the signalment of dogs using photographs as prompts.

As we are working from photos rather than accurate clinical records or real life,

we will have to estimate the age of an animal in terms of puppy, juvenile, adult,

or geriatric.

And in addition,

it may not be possible to identify the sex of an animal accurately from the photo.

We should just point out that it can be very difficult to

estimate the age of a dog using observation skills alone.

However, some indicators might include, how does the overall size and

confirmation of the dog compare with that breed?

Are all of the teeth present?

And if so, are they temporary or are the temporary or adult?

Are there any missing?

And how much tartar and wear and tear is present on the teeth, generally?

How mobile is the dog?

Is there any sign of stiffness, lameness, weakness or wobbliness?

Is there any evidence of muscle wastage, for example, over the top of the head.

And we can look at grey hairs around the muzzle, and on other parts of the body.

But be careful in using this as the sole indicator of age,

as grey hairs can also just be part of the normal coloration for an individual dog.

So having introduced you to this concept, let's now move on to start developing your

first clinical skill, describing the signalment of an animal.

In the following quiz you will be shown a photograph of three different dogs.

Record the signalment for each dog to include its species, its breed.

And if needs be, use the term crossbreed where appropriate.

Its age, and all we need here is puppy, juvenile, adult, or

geriatric, and its sex.

So as we've said male or female, and neutered or entire.

If you cannot identify any of the classifications from the photo,

just record not visible.

We'll give you 30 seconds before moving onto the next photo,

but feel free to pause the presentation if you need more time.

So here is slide number one

in the signalment quiz.

So the signalment for this dog is a dog, obviously, a crossbreed.

Adult and male, although it's not possible to confirm from

the photo whether this dog is neutered or entire.

So moving onto slide number two in the signalment quiz.

Again, we'll give you 30 seconds to have a look at the photo.

So the signalment for this animal is a dog, a Jack Russell terrier.

In terms of age, it's definitely adult, but possibly geriatric.

When we look at the muscle waste between its eye and

its ear, and also the amount of tartar on its teeth.

And the dog is male,

and although it's not possible to definitely confirm this from the photo,

the region between the hind legs does suggest that the dog may be entire.

Moving onto slide number three, and the final slide in the signalment quiz.

Again, another 30 seconds to have a look at this photo.

So the signalment for this animal is a dog, a black labrador,

and a puppy in terms of age.

Although the sex is difficult to distinguish, as there's a large shadow in

the region where a penis would be found in a male puppy.

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