PAIN AND ITS MANAGEMENT

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