Page 8 - BSAVA Guide to Pain Management in Small Animal Practice

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Physiology of pain

Ian Self and Tamara Grubb

Introduction negates the possibility that an individual is
experiencing pain and is in need of appropriate
What is pain? pain relieving treatment . his shifts the onus
Pain has been de ned by the International on to veterinary professionals as carers to
Association for the Study of Pain IASP as an reali e that a patient who may be expected to
unpleasant sensory or emotional experience be painful e.g. following ma or surgery but is
associated with actual or potential tissue not yet demonstrating classical signs of pain
damage, or described in terms of such should nevertheless be regarded as probably
damage IASP, 1994 . his immediately raises re uiring analgesic intervention.
problems for veterinary professionals An alternative de nition for pain in animals
attempting to treat pain as we are extremely is an aversive sensory and emotional
limited in terms of examining whether our experience which elicits protective motor
patients experience the sensory or emotional actions, results in learned avoidance and may
aspects of true pain. Indeed, the emotional and modify species speci c traits of behaviour
sensory components of pain are di cult to including social behaviour orton et al., .
understand even in human pain medicine, his is arguably a better working de nition as it
where di erent people with the same condition takes into account the altered behaviour
describe their pain as di erent in terms of commonly seen in animals experiencing pain,
uality, intensity, and how it makes them feel. although the sensory and emotional
components are still di cult to evaluate.
Nevertheless, there is little doubt amongst
most veterinary surgeons veterinarians that Why is pain detrimental and
the behaviours seen in painful animals are the why should it be treated
expression of such emotions . A more recent
addition to the IASP s de nition has attempted aggressively?
to encompass the non verbal situation Veterinary professionals have both a
encountered by veterinary pain professionals professional and moral duty of care to animals.
he inability to communicate in no way n entering the profession, U veterinary

BSAVA Guide to Pain Management in Small Animal Practice. Edited by Ian Self. ©BSAVA 2019 3

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