Complementing opioids with additional modalities for pain management

In a dvm360^® interview, Tasha McNerney, BS, CVT, CVPP, VTA (Anesthesia and Analgesia), faculty for the Directions in Veterinary Medicine (DIVM) symposium in Miami, Florida, explains the advantages of a multimodal approach for pain management, plus which therapies complement opioids.

The following is a partial transcript of the video.

Tasha McNerney, BS, CVT, CVPP, VTA (Anesthesia and Analgesia): We want to use multimodal therapy, really, because, I mean, we could just be giving like a [whole] ton of opioids to our patients, right? And we know that is going to function when it comes to patient pain perception, right, and modulation of those pain signals. However, just throwing a whole mess of opioids at our patients in itself can cause a lot of problems, right? We can get GI stasis. We can sometimes, in some cases, with some opioids, get bradycardia, we can get nausea and vomiting, all that. We don't want those side effects.

Register today for the Directions in Veterinary Medicine symposium in Miami, Florida taking place May 19-20, 2023.