Many veterinary experts in pain management recognize that animals benefit from protocols that include preemptive perioperative analgesic and anti-inflammatory therapy. Using a perioperative approach to pain management not only serves to dampen the pain response and increase patient comfort, it may also prevent the development of maladaptive pain and facilitate a smoother recovery from anesthesia. To this end, veterinarians concerned with treating the acute pain associated with surgery in their feline patients have a number of medical treatments at their disposal.1
Understanding the pharmacologic differences among these different types of therapy helps to ensure that the medications are used appropriately and with the most efficacy. Concurrent use with another NSAID, corticosteroid, or nephrotoxic medication should be avoided or monitored closely.
1. International Veterinary Academy of Pain Management Website. Available at: http://www.cvmbs.colostate.edu/ivapm/animals/cats.htm. Accessed November 2007.
2. Hellyer P, Rodan I, Brunt J, et al. AAHA/AAFP Pain Management Guidelines for Dogs and Cats. J Am Anim Hosp Assoc. 2007;43:235?248. |
