Pain Management Clinic

The pain management clinic provided by the Anaesthesia service at the Small Animal Teaching Hospital takes a multi-disciplinary approach to the management of acute, perioperative and chronic pain in dogs and cats. The clinic is led by Ian Self (head of small animal anaesthesia) and aims to help:

• Patients with poorly controlled chronic pain of musculoskeletal, spinal or visceral origin
• Owners who feel their pet’s pain is not well controlled and would like to explore further management options
• Patients with chronic pain who are unable to tolerate certain treatments because of side effects or because of concurrent conditions
• Patients with no identified source of pain
• Patients following major, painful surgery
• Palliative care (end of life) patients

The clinic offers in-depth initial assessment of pain and suffering taking account of the presenting condition, current treatment plan and the overall health of the patient. We devise an individualised approach to treatment based on the outcome of the initial assessment, the owner’s concerns and the most significant presenting problem.

Owner involvement and understanding is essential. We will discuss at length the owner’s involvement in their pet’s treatment with a realistic explanation of the likely outcomes as well as giving advice on reduction of suffering and how this can be achieved. A treatment plan will then be agreed and implemented.

Several treatment strategies may be employed including appropriate medication, environmental and lifestyle changes, acupuncture and physical therapies where indicated. We occasionally refer patients to other services in the hospital for further diagnostic workup with the agreement of the referring veterinary surgeon and owner. Follow up appointments allow reassessment of the patient and appropriate alterations in their treatment if necessary.