Pain and its management

The management of pain in geriatric patients is a critical part of good veterinary care. The older patient poses unique issues in the selection of appropriate analgesic drugs due to altered drug absorption, metabolism and the frequent occurrence of underlying disease. Narcotics and NSAIDs are important analgesics that can be safely administered in geriatric patients provided that dosing amount and frequency are adjusted. Alternative analgesic techniques, such as nerve blocks, spinal analgesia and transcutaneous patches, offer a particularly useful source of analgesia in compromised geriatric patients.