In recent years, there have been many advances in the realm of pain management for veterinary patients. Historically, consideration about pain management was often "adjunctive," at best, or was placed further down the list of priorities to address when constructing treatment plans for patients in our care. Today, because of expansive knowledge and heightened awareness, this aspect of patient care has become integral and of vital importance in the practice of veterinary medicine. In fact, many advocate that pain is the fourth vital sign to assess (in addition to the conventional "TPR" of our patients).
A recent article, published in the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery, summarized the 2015 AAHA/AAFP pain management guidelines for dogs and cats. The task force aggregated current knowledge and recommendations of experts and included both pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic aspects of pain management.
As we continue the discussion on the topic of pain management, in my recent Evidence Based Update, I summarize some general principles regarding pain and introduce a variety of non-pharmacologic, integrative care options that were mentioned by the task force. This EBU includes discussion of:
View this Evidence Based Update - available for on demand viewing (running time 10 mins). (Approved for CE credit in New York and by the NJVMA, pending approval for CE credit by AAVSB RACE). We'll also be discussing this in depth in the upcoming EBU Roundtable.
Please login and post any questions or comments you have on this topic!
