Management of acute and surgical pain

Effective treatment of acute pain secondary to surgery and trauma is often a complex and perplexing task. Concern about potential adverse effects of analgesic drugs on cardiovascular, respiratory, renal, and central nervous system functions often limits the use of analgesics in the very patients that could benefit from them the most. Combining drugs of different classes and with different mechanisms of action is an established anesthesia technique used to achieve a desired effect with a minimum of adverse side effects. Similarly, the use of a balanced or multimodal approach to the treatment of acute pain can greatly enhance the clinician's ability to safely provide effective analgesia. Systemic opioids, alpha-2 agonists, nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs, and local or regional analgesic techniques can be used in varying combinations to meet the needs of the painful animal and hasten recovery.