Prescription and use of analgesics in dogs and cats in a veterinary teaching hospital: 258 cases (1983-1989)
Hansen, B.; Hardie, E.
Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 202(9): 1485-1494
1993
ISSN/ISBN: 0003-1488 PMID: 8496107 Document Number: 418330
The frequency of prescribing analgesics and administering them for treatment of apparent postoperative pain in 243 dogs and 15 cats was evaluated. Only 1 cat received any analgesics following surgery, only 40% of dogs were under the influence of an analgesic following recovery from general anaesthesia, and only 19% were treated for > 8 h. Nearly half of the dogs, believed by their assigned student to be in moderate to severe pain, received no analgesics. Small and juvenile dogs were less likely to be treated than older, larger dogs, and interns and residents were more likely to administer analgesics than were faculty. Many of the written instructions for analgesic administration in the ICU were worded in a manner calculated to limit actual administration of the drug, suggesting widespread concern about opioid analgesic adverse effects. It was concluded that because clinicians responsible for the care of these animals received their training at universities throughout North America, these findings may reflect general patterns of analgesic administration at other veterinary teaching hospitals and should prompt reevaluation of current attitudes about pain and analgesia in cats and dogs.