Welcome on board! The CEPEF4 (Confidential Enquiry into Perioperative Equine Fatalities 4) is starting now!

We, the CEPEF4 team, are a group of 5 Veterinary Specialists in Anaesthesia and Analgesia, with strong interests in horses, mortality and morbidities. We have the invaluable support of our IT team.

The CEPEF2 study still stands as the largest observational study of equine fatalities. Equine Anaesthesiology has evolved in the intervening 20 years, but fatalities still occur. This is why we strongly believe that an update is now appropriate. Click here to access the video by the main author of the CEPEF2 Mark Johnston.

Our team consists of Mark Johnston and Polly Taylor, both authors of the previous CEPEF1, CEPEF2 and CEPEF3 studies. Regula Bettschart-Wolfensberger has previously claimed the need for this CEPEF4. All 3 have followed the evolution of Equine Anaesthesia and Analgesia very closely in the last decades. We also have on board José Ignacio Redondo, who is an expert in the study of anaesthetic related fatalities in small animals. He is indeed the author of an app-based platform which has collected, so far, data from more than 65,000 dogs and cats. Last but not least, Miguel Gozalo-Marcilla is author of several publications related to new anaesthetic and analgesic techniques in both anaesthetized and standing horses; he is leading the team. 

With all our different backgrounds, we aim to evaluate the current situation in this field and to determine the changes which have occurred in those 18 years.  

Why are we writing this letter? We would like to invite you to join this project. In order to meet our goals, we need to collect data from a large number of cases covering a wide range of procedures. The CEPEF2 study collected 41,824 cases from 62 clinics. By contributing to the project you can help us to understand better how this specialization has evolved in the last two decades.

The method for data collection is very easy. We have developed a pdf form which can be filled in using a mobile phone, a tablet or a computer. This form should be completed for every single case you anesthetize general anaesthesia (all short procedures in which general anaesthesia is induced should be included). Also, any standing sedations for surgery, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computer tomography (CT) and scintigraphy and requiring a constant rate infusion (CRI) or at least one top-up for maintenance. See further information here.

The completed form is sent automatically by email at the end of the anaesthetic procedure. You can use Adobe Acrobat, a free app which you can download in these links for iPhone or Android. 

That’s it! Instructions for use and some additional comments can be downloaded here.

All the data will be managed confidentially. In you are planning to join us, an agreement form needs to be signed between the both parties. If you have any questions we will be very happy to answer you, using this email cepef4@gmail.com.

Thank you reading this. We will be both delighted and grateful if you will take part and help us to make this project a success. Please register your interest in contributing in this link.

Sincerely yours,

The CEPEF4 team