Polyarthritis

Kelly Cairns, DVM, MS, DACVIM

Dr. Kelly Cairns, DVM, MS, DACVIM (SAIM), graduated veterinary school from CSU, completed a small animal rotating internship at Cornell, and completed a small animal internal medicine residency at OSU before obtaining her Diplomate status. She enjoyed a rewarding clinical practice as an internist and medical director of a multi-specialty/ER hospital. Today, Dr. Cairns currently serves as Vice President of Medical Excellence and Education for the 400+ hospitals in the Thrive Pet Healthcare family.

Overview:

This lecture is a comprehensive review of polyarthritis. The speaker will discuss how to perform arthrocentesis of common joints and review normal vs abnormal joint fluid characteristics. The diagnostic work up, differential diagnoses and treatment plans for polyarthritis will be reviewed along with breed predisposition for different variants of polyarthritis.

Learning Objectives:

To be able to identify normal vs abnormal characteristics of joint fluid.
To be able to explain how to perform arthocentesis of common joints.
To understand how to perform a rational diagnostic evaluation when suspecting polyarthritis as well as the differential diagnoses for polyarthritis which must be ruled out
To understand the different causes of polyarthritis, including relevant joint cytology findings for each.
To be able to rationally treat polyarthritis, either empirically or based upon diagnosis.
To understand the breeds which are over-represented for different variants of polyarthritis

This course is RACE-approved for 1.0 continuing education credits hours in jurisdictions that accept RACE-approval.