Pain Management
Pain management in animals is now recognized as an integral aspect of veterinary practice that offers many advantages to patients. Anyone who has experienced a painful episode is well aware of the discomfort involved. If not addressed appropriately, pain is not only similarly uncomfortable in our animal patients, but may also lead to delayed healing and exaggerated stress in already sick or injured patients. Untreated pain potentially results in further injury, illness, and severe behavioral changes typical of human depression and dysfunction. Major advancements within our profession over the last decade have enabled us to respect pain not only as a serious side effect of many medical and surgical procedures, but also as a significant disease in and of itself!
Pain relief is known as analgesia, and often accompanies a surgical patient's anesthesia, or loss of consciousness. More importantly however, pain relief should accompany any pet's problem resolution, whether surgical, medical or acute (emergency). With pain relief or analgesia, significantly fewer adversities such as inflammation, sepsis, cardiac dysrrhythmias, pulmonary disease, clotting dysfunctions, and gastrointestinal issues arise from both acute and chronic illness. Pain relief is therefore a prudent means of healing all of our animal patients, comparable to antibiotics which treat bacterial infections and surgical techniques which correct developmental or traumatic problems!
Pain medicine has become a multidimensional specialty within both human and veterinary medicine fields. It is the goal of the Cornell Comparative Pain Medicine Program to harness the best diagnostic and therapeutic options within both large and small animal medicine and surgery; by coupling these with sound research and cutting edge technology/advancements, we help improve your pet's quality of life. Pain management for any particular patient focuses on a multidimensional diagnostic and therapeutic plan often involving traditional medicine and surgery services, and newer advanced services such as intensive care, rehabilitation, and behavior medicine. By utilizing sophisticated imaging and superior techniques known to treat pain in human patients with similar painful problems, our veterinary pain specialists are better able to handle animal patients' pain and suffering.
