When pain is severe or chronic in nature & definitive surgical or medical treatment is not an option, there are a number of procedures that can be performed by veterinary anaesthesiologists to provide localised and long acting analgesia.
Interventional pain management covers a range of procedures that can alleviate pain using minimally invasive approaches. The aim is not to fix the source of the problem but to improve quality of life & reduce reliance on systemic medications. The target area can be precisely identified using technology including ultrasound guidance, nerve stimulator and locator devices & CT guidance.
Interventional pain management is often used in a palliative setting - when chronic pain is present in disease states such as osteoarthritis or cancer pain. Sometimes our traditional modes of analgesia fail us or patients are unable to tolerate side effects. Under these circumstances a more permanent, less invasive solution to keep our pets comfortable is highly desirable. Minimally invasive interventional pain medicine can be an effective tool to manage pain allowing reduced administration of systemic medications.
Types of interventional pain management that are available to our veterinary patients include
Peri-neural drug administration
Local anaesthetics & corticosteroids are the most common medications used. They can be administered by intermittent single injection which can be repeated as needed or in some cases an indwelling catheter can be placed close to a peripheral nerve or in the epidural space with continuous administration of low dose medications.
Minimally invasive nerve ablation
can be an effective long term solution to severe and chronic pain conditions such as cancer pain. This can be accomplished with several types of neurolytic agents or through electromodulation.
Intra articular injections
Injections directly into diseased joints can provide marked analgesia. Corticosteroids or compounds such a hyaluronic acid can help in severe osteoarthritis, particularly when combined with adjunctive medications.
To find out more about Interventional pain management procedures contact us via info@vapmc.com