Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Management of acute pancreatitis in dogs: a critical appraisal with focus on feeding and analgesia.
- Journal:
- The Journal of small animal practice
- Year:
- 2015
- Authors:
- Mansfield, C & Beths, T
- Affiliation:
- Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences · Australia
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
Recent research has improved our understanding of acute pancreatitis, which is a serious condition affecting dogs. However, there are still very few studies specifically looking at how to treat this disease in dogs, so many recommendations are based on studies done in other animals or general medical practices. Treatment usually involves replacing lost fluids, managing nausea, and providing pain relief. Some new ideas from human medicine suggest that feeding dogs earlier in their recovery might help their intestines heal better, although there isn't strong evidence yet to fully support this approach in dogs. Overall, while the management strategies for acute pancreatitis in dogs are evolving, the effectiveness of early feeding is still being studied.
Abstract
Knowledge about acute pancreatitis has increased recently in both the medical and veterinary fields. Despite this expansion of knowledge, there are very few studies on treatment interventions in naturally occurring disease in dogs. As a result, treatment recommendations are largely extrapolated from experimental rodent models or general critical care principles. General treatment principles involve replacing fluid losses, maintaining hydrostatic pressure, controlling nausea and providing pain relief. Specific interventions recently advocated in human medicine include the use of neurokinin-1 antagonists for analgesia and early interventional feeding. The premise for early feeding is to improve the health of the intestinal tract, as unhealthy enterocytes are thought to perpetuate systemic inflammation. The evidence for early interventional feeding is not supported by robust clinical trials to date, but in humans there is evidence that it reduces hospitalisation time and in dogs it is well tolerated. This article summarises the major areas of management of acute pancreatitis in dogs and examines the level of evidence for each recommendation.
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Search related cases →Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25586804/