ATTITUDES AND CONCERNS OF CANADIAN ANIMAL HEALTH TECHNOLOGISTS TOWARDPOSTOPERATIVE PAIN MANAGEMENT IN DOGS AND CATS

Three hundred and twenty-two Canadian animal health technologists (AHT s) were surveyed to determine their attitudes toward postoperative pai n management in dogs and cats following 6 surgical procedures, their c oncerns regarding the use of opioid analgesics, and their role within veterinary practices with respect to postoperative pain control. Two h undred and sixty-four (82%) returned the questionnaire. Pain perceptio n was defined as the average of pain rankings for dogs and cats (on a scale of 1 to 10) following abdominal surgery, or the value for dogs o r cats if the AHT worked with only 1 of the 2 species. Maximum concern about the risks associated with the postoperative use of morphine or oxymorphone was defined as the highest rating assigned to any of the 6 risks evaluated in either dogs or cats. Animal health technologists r eported significantly higher pain perception scores than did veterinar ians who completed a similar survey 2 years previously. Higher pain pe rception scores were associated with decreased satisfaction with the a dequacy of analgesic therapy in their practice, higher pain control go als, and attendance at continuing education within the previous 12 mon ths. The majority of AHTs (55%) agreed that one or more risks associat ed with the use of morphine or oxymorphone outweighed the benefits. Th e 3 issues that were perceived to pose the greatest risk were respirat ory depression, bradycardia, and sedation and excitement, for dogs and cats, respectively. Most AHTs (68%) considered their knowledge relate d to the recognition and control of pain to be adequate, compared with 24% of veterinarians who responded to a similar previous survey. As f or veterinarians, experience gained while in practice was ranked as th e most important source of knowledge, while the technical program atte nded was ranked as least important. Over 88% of the AHTs provided nurs ing care during the postoperative period, monitored animals for side e ffects of postoperative analgesic therapy, informed veterinarians when animals were in pain, recommended analgesic therapy when they believe d it was warranted, reported that animals received analgesics when the y believed it was warranted, administered analgesics under the instruc tion of a veterinarian, and believed they were part of a team working to provide adequate postoperative pain control.