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Local analgesic techniques in small animals
Author(s) -
Borer Kate
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
in practice
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.211
H-Index - 25
eISSN - 2042-7689
pISSN - 0263-841X
DOI - 10.1136/inpract.28.4.200
Subject(s) - medicine , analgesic , anesthesia , pain ladder , analgesic agents , pain control , intensive care medicine , cats , systemic administration , opioid , receptor , microbiology and biotechnology , in vivo , biology
WHILE systemic administration of analgesic agents, such as opioids and non‐steroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), is the mainstay approach for the treatment of pain, many of these drugs have unwanted side effects when administered systemically or cannot be used for long periods of time to manage postoperative pain. This article discusses some simple local analgesic techniques that can be used alongside these methods of pain control to provide local analgesia to dogs and cats in practice. These are not intended to replace the systemic administration of opioids or NSAIDs, but can help reduce the postoperative requirement for systemic drugs and, thus, their side effects. Irrespective of which methods are used to manage pain in individual patients, it is important to frequently assess the effectiveness of the pain control provided.