FACTORS INFLUENCING THE POSTOPERATIVE USE OF ANALGESICS IN DOGS AND CATS BY CANADIAN VETERINARIANS

Four hundred and seventeen Canadian veterinarians were surveyed to det ermine their postoperative use of analgesics in dogs and cats followin g 6 categories of surgeries, and their opinion toward pain perception and perceived complications associated with the postoperative use of p otent opioid analgesics. Three hundred and seventeen (76%) returned th e questionnaire. An analgesic user was defined as a veterinarian who a dministers analgesics to at least 50% of dogs or 50% of cats following abdominal surgery, excluding ovariohysterectomy. The veterinarians re sponding exhibited a bimodal distribution of analgesic use, with 49.5% being defined as analgesic users. These veterinarians tended to use a nalgesics in 100% of animals following abdominal surgery. Veterinarian s defined as analgesic nonusers rarely used postoperative analgesics f ollowing any abdominal surgery. Pain perception was defined as the ave rage of pain rankings (on a scale of 1 to 10) following abdominal surg ery, or the value for dogs or cats if the veterinarian worked with onl y 1 of the 2 species. Maximum concern about the risks associated with the postoperative use of potent opioid agonists was defined as the hig hest ranking assigned to any of the 7 risks evaluated in either dogs o r cats. Logistic regression analysis identified the pain perception sc ore and the maximum concern regarding the use of potent opioid agonist s in the postoperative period as the 2 factors that distinguished anal gesic users from analgesic nonusers. This model correctly classified 6 8% of veterinarians as analgesic users or nonusers. Linear regression analysis identified gender and the presence of an animal health techno logist in the practice as the 2 factors that influenced pain perceptio n by veterinarians. Linear regression analysis identified working with an animal health technologist, graduation within the past 10 years, a nd attendance at continuing education as factors that influenced maxim um concern about the postoperative use of opioid agonists.