Analgesia Beyond Opioids
1.0 CE Credit Hour / Veterinarians & Veterinary Technicians Track: Anesthesiology
Overview:
In veterinary medicine, opioids are the mainstay for treatment for most pain states, from mild to severe. However, in human medicine opioid therapy can lead to addiction and overdose death, bringing to the forefront an opioid crisis. The trickle-down effect for the veterinary world is an opioid shortage. This presentation will discuss the pros and cons to pharmacologic opioid-sparing analgesic drugs and techniques as well as non-pharmacologic options.
Learning Objectives:
- Understand the rational behind shortages and changes in availability of opioid analgesics.
- Understand alternative options that can works are a supplement or, in some cases, a replacement to opioid anagesics.
- Understand how to use pain scoring techniques to fine tune when opioids are warranted.
Katrina Lafferty, BFA, RLAT, CVT, VTS
Katrina Lafferty graduated from DePaul University in Chicago, IL with her BFA in Theatre. She soon realized she had missed the mark in career choices and returned to school to graduate with her degree in Veterinary Technology. She went on to earn her Veterinary Technician Specialty in Anesthesia and Analgesia and her registered lab animal technician certification.
Kate has worked at the University of Wisconsin-Madison since 2005. She was a senior anesthesia nurse in the Anesthesia and Pain Management Department at the school of veterinary medicine until 2016. She moved to a position of head veterinary nurse in the anesthesia and surgery department at the University of Wisconsin National Primate Research Center. After nearly 5 years working with primarily rhesus macaques and marmosets, in 2021 she returned to the anesthesia department at the school of veterinary medicine.
Kate loves all aspects of teaching and is extremely involved in the education of the veterinary community. She has written numerous articles and book chapters and has presented extensively at national and international continuing education conferences.
Kate has anesthetized everything from a 2 day old calf, to a 4 week old kitten, to a 60 year old tortoise, not to mention a veritable menagerie of other species. Her passion is all things related to the anesthetic and analgesic care of exotic animals.
This program is approved for 1.0 hour(s) of continuing education credit in jurisdictions that recognize RACE®-approval.
