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The lack of analgesic use (oligoanalgesia) in small animal practice
Author(s) -
Simon B. T.,
Scallan E. M.,
Carroll G.,
Steagall P. V.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of small animal practice
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.7
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1748-5827
pISSN - 0022-4510
DOI - 10.1111/jsap.12717
Subject(s) - medicine , analgesic , curriculum , pain management , intensive care medicine , continuing education , anesthesia , medical education , psychology , pedagogy
Oligoanalgesia is defined as failure to provide analgesia in patients with acute pain. Treatment of pain in emergencies, critical care and perioperatively may influence patient outcomes: the harmful practice of withholding analgesics occurs in teaching hospitals and private practices and results in severe physiological consequences. This article discusses the prevalence, primary causes, species and regional differences and ways to avoid oligoanalgesia in small animal practice. Oligoanalgesia may be addressed by improving education on pain management in the veterinary curriculum, providing continuing education to veterinarians and implementing pain scales.