Pharmaceutical control of pain in large animals

Abstract

Pain may result in tissue ischemia, tissue hypoxia, shock, severe cardiac arrhythmias, atelectasis, renal failure, and a catabolic state. Hence, veterinarians are expected to treat pain in animals for ethical reasons and to improve wound healing. Adequate treatment of pain requires recognition of a variety of cardiovascular, respiratory, neuroendocrine, and behavioral changes associated with pain in animals. Pain treatment can be directed at the periphery, at sensory axons, or at central neurons. Drugs that are used to interfere at one or more of these sites include non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), opioids, α 2-adrenoceptor-agonists, and local anesthetics administered systemically, locally, epidurally, or intrathecally. The dose rates and frequency of administration of each analgesic drug are highly dependent on animal species and route of drug administration.