What is a Signalment and Why is it Important?

 

Photo by Dr. Haus

Signalment

A signalment is the first part of assessing a patient where you are gathering the basic description of the patient.  A signalment consists of the patient's... 

 

Name

 

Age

 

Reproductive Status (intact versus castrated (still has reproductive organs versus does not have reproductive organs))

 

Species/Breed

 

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A farm/herd signalment consists of the...

 

 

Name of farm/farmer 

 

Number of animals

 

Specie(s)

Breed(s)

 

Average Age (if applicable)

Farm Type/Structure/Location

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Signalment Examples:

Rosa is a 5-year-old female intact Siamese cat.

 

Charles is a 10-year-old male neutered Labrador Retriever Dog.

 

Petunia is a 3-year-old female intact lactating Holstein Dairy cow.

 

Cherry Oak farm is a 400 Brown Swiss cow dairy facility in central Wisconsin.

 

Tree Lane farm is a 200 Angus Beef cow-calf operation in northwestern Illinois.

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Why is the signalment important?

A patient's signalment identifies the patient and allows the medical professional to start narrowing down the list of potential causes for disease.

Identifying the patient is extremely important to ensure you are not treating the wrong patient.  It would be embarrassing to use the wrong name for a patient you are seeing or have the incorrect records for a patient.

Additionally, having a patient's signalment helps start the process of narrowing down the potential causes for a disease.  If a patient is a chicken you don't want to be considering a pig disease as a potential cause for the patient's clinical signs.  Also, if a dog is castrated (does not have his testicles) it would be embarrassing to tell an owner you suspect the patient has testicular cancer.