Treating pancreatitis in dogs - challenges and care options

Abstract

Canine pancreatitis poses a challenge for patients, their owners, and veterinary surgeons, not only because of the difficulty in diagnosing this disease, but also in its treatment. Treatment of canine pancreatitis generally consists of four cornerstones (intravenous fluid therapy, analgesia, nutritional support and controlling nausea), however every dog with pancreatitis presents slightly differently and each patient will need specifically tailored therapy. In human medicine, systems for measuring disease severity, monitoring disease progression and treatment options have been widely studied, but for dogs this information is much less available. This poses a challenge in getting the correct dog-specific recommendations for the treatment of pancreatitis, as many treatment recommendations are derived initially from the human field. Scoring disease severity is of practical interest not only in identifying severe cases early, but also for monitoring disease progression. The prognosis for canine pancreatitis is generally good in mild cases, which usually lead to complete resolution of clinical signs. Recurrent bouts of pancreatitis can lead to chronic pancreatitis, or worsening of the disease, with rare long-term complications possible such as diabetes mellitus or exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, bringing further challenges to patient management.