Newer analgesics. Nonsteroid anti-inflammatory drugs, opioids, and combinations

Analgesia is an intrinsic part of anesthesia, and the use of opioids for premedication, supplementation of anesthesia, and postoperative analgesia is not new. Development of new potent and less toxic NSAIDs has now resulted in this type of analgesic, also playing a major role in perioperative analgesia. Weak cyclo-oxygenase inhibitors, and NSAIDs with high COX2 activity, are proving successful in the provision of analgesia in dogs and cats. Some newer opioids developed for man have potential for use in dogs and cats, and buprenorphine, a partial agonist, deserves further evaluation. Some novel analgesics have potential for use in animals, but the specific analgesic role of old friends ketamine and the alpha 2 adrenoceptor agonists is worthy of closer scrutiny.