Veterinary pain management matters

Pain management is one of the most important responsibilities we have as veterinary professionals. Every patient that enters our care deserves more than a technically successful procedure; they deserve an anaesthetic and analgesic plan that minimises pain, reduces stress and supports a smoother recovery. Throughout my career as a Specialist Veterinary Anaesthetist, I have found that effective pain management is rarely about a single drug or protocol. It is about understanding physiology, making informed clinical decisions, and continually developing our knowledge.

One of the challenges I see across general practice is that pain management is often viewed as a single event. A patient receives analgesia during surgery, recovers, and the case is considered complete. In reality, pain management should begin well before induction and continue throughout recovery.

Pain is not simply a response to tissue injury. It is a dynamic physiological process involving inflammation, peripheral nerves, the spinal cord and the brain. Every patient processes painful stimuli differently depending on their age, species, underlying disease, anxiety levels and previous experiences.

This complexity explains why identical procedures can produce very different pain responses between patients. It also highlights why standardised protocols are not always sufficient.

Modern veterinary anaesthesia has evolved beyond keeping patients unconscious. Today, our focus should be on creating individualised anaesthetic plans that proactively minimise pain rather than simply reacting to it once it develops.

A significant advance in veterinary pain management has been the widespread adoption of multimodal analgesia. Rather than relying on a single medication, multimodal analgesia combines drugs and techniques that work at different points within the pain pathway. This approach generally provides superior pain control while allowing lower doses of individual drugs. Multimodal analgesia and pre-emptive pain management are widely recognised as key principles of modern veterinary anaesthesia education.

For veterinary teams, understanding why individual analgesic choices are made is every bit as important as knowing which drugs to administer. Clinical decision-making improves dramatically when practitioners understand the physiology behind their protocols rather than simply following habit.

Pain management does not stop once surgery begins. Anaesthesia is a dynamic process requiring continuous assessment and adjustment. Changes in heart rate, blood pressure, respiratory parameters and patient movement may indicate inadequate analgesia long before recovery.

Effective monitoring allows us to intervene early, maintaining patient stability while preventing unnecessary physiological stress. Likewise, recovery is one of the most critical stages of any anaesthetic. Appropriate analgesia during recovery improves patient comfort and reduces complications.

To help vet teams, I created The Anaesthesia Vet Academy to bridge the gap between theory and clinical practice. Many veterinarians and veterinary nurses receive excellent foundational training, but anaesthesia and pain management continue to evolve rapidly. New evidence, improved monitoring techniques, and a deeper understanding of pharmacology mean there is always something new to learn.

The Academy is designed to make advanced anaesthesia education practical, clinically relevant and immediately applicable within everyday practice. Rather than focusing solely on textbook knowledge, I explore the reasoning behind clinical decisions so veterinary professionals can build trust in managing increasingly complex patients. The Academy features practical modules covering topics such as analgesia, sedation, physiology, airway management, monitoring, and anaesthetic complications.

One of the most rewarding aspects of teaching is seeing how relatively small changes in clinical thinking can produce significant improvements in patient outcomes.

Veterinary medicine is constantly advancing, and our understanding of pain management should evolve alongside it. Continuing education allows us to question established habits, refine protocols and deliver a higher standard of care.

I encourage you to visit The Anaesthesia Vet Academy. Every module is built around real-world clinical application, helping you translate evidence into everyday decision-making.