There is no question that glucocorticoids (GCs) remain the mainstay of immunosuppressive therapy in small animal medicine. However other drugs are available that can be used in conjunction with GCs in order to provide synergistic immunosuppression and thus allow lower GC dosage, more specifically target certain arms of the immune system, and provide proven superior immunosuppression to GCs in a few diseases.
Exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI) is a syndrome, which is caused by insufficient synthesis and secretion of digestive enzymes by the exocrine portion of the pancreas, leading to insufficient activity of digestive enzymes in the lumen of the small intestine.
Clinical signs of gastrointestinal disease, such as vomiting and diarrhea are extremely common in small animal patients. When seeking advice from a veterinarian pet owners expect accurate diagnosis and definitive therapy of the problem.
In humans, the risk of adverse drug interactions multiplies as the number of administered drugs increases. Interactions can occur during IV drug administration, during oral absorption, at the target site, or during hepatic or renal elimination, and may lead to loss of efficacy or increased toxicity.
Concerns regarding bacterial resistance to antimicrobials are increasing the awareness of rational use in human and veterinary medicine. Successful antimicrobial therapy relies on administering sufficient doses so that pathogens at the site of infection are killed or sufficiently suppressed so that they can be eliminated by the host's immune system.
Inflammation and pain are very common clinical problems in veterinary medicine. Although highly efficacious, use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) is not without risks, especially when used in geriatric or debilitated animals. Practitioners need a basic understanding of the action of these drugs in order to appreciate clinical differences between them.
The object of this review is to convey new scientific information and resultant practical techniques applicable to the care of the severely injured patient. One near death, severely injured patient is then briefly presented to exemplify A – airway, B-breathing C- cardiovascilar, D – disability, E – everything else techniques that contributed to her recovery.
Signalment: 6 year old female Rottweiler, Miss Pooples, weighing 40 kg
There is considerable evidence to support the adjustment of drug dosages in human patients with heart failure, hepatic failure, or renal insufficiency. In contrast, similar studies are lacking in dogs and cats. This presentation will discuss veterinary situations in which drug dose adjustments may be warranted.
The goals of this session are to provide some information related to blood types, blood typing, crossmatching, and to relate a few case examples that emphasize the usefulness of knowing what you may be working with.
Shock is the general term used to describe several conditions that lead to inadequate perfusion of the tissues. There are multiple types of shock, but the common derangement in all forms is inadequate delivery of oxygen and nutrients to the cells and inadequate elimination of metabolic byproducts.
Since the pre-analytical phase is by most accounts the most common source of errors related to laboratory testing, this session will focus on some of the more common causes and effects of these errors, and how to avoid them.
Pharmacogenomics is an emerging field studying how genetic differences within a population can cause differences in pharmacology. Usually the genetic change will influence the pharmacokinetics of the drug, through altered drug absorption, distribution, metabolism, or excretion.
Information about veterinary drugs, both new and old, is presented to practitioners on a daily basis. This information is vital to educated and rational use of drugs as clinical conditions change and new situations arise. However, like any competitive industry, veterinary pharmaceutical companies need to market their products in a manner that will influence consumers (the veterinarian) to use them.
With the availability of many over-the-counter NSAID's, and several newer, relatively cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) selective agents marketed for veterinary patients, there are many choices for controlling acute and chronic pain and inflammation. Because patients are often given NSAID's in the presence of concurrent disease and along with other drugs, the potential for NSAID-related organ toxicity and NSAID-associated drug interactions should always be considered.
Drug companies cannot supply labeled drug products to treat every condition in every species, and veterinarians often turn to extra-label drug use (ELDU) to fill these unmet therapeutic needs. A special form of ELDU is compounding medications.
Review the common pathophysiology – Cause – Affect of the reasons cardiopulmonary arrest occurs in clinical practice and then review the current views on basic and advanced cardiac life support and provide my personal views on the subject based on over 35 years of clinical and some years of experimental research experience.
With the increase in concurrent use in small animal patients, drug interactions are becoming more and more likely. Polypharmacy can have a number of unintended side effects.
Commonly affecting the large breed deep chested breeds gastric dilatation and volvulus syndrome has the potential to be a life threatening problem.
The neonatal period is defined as from birth to 2-4 weeks of age for puppies and kittens, with the pediatric period defined as up to 12 weeks of age. Because of major changes in physiology during this period, drug disposition and response are likely to be varied.
The manual PCV and plasma protein are quick, reliable methods for determining blood volume and hydration status when performed correctly. However, more than a bare-bones level of hematologic information has been made available with advances in technology.
Hypovolemia vs. dehydration
The title of this presentation is apropos, considering the fact that there are over 9,000 species of birds and nearly 8,000 species of reptiles. Knowing how different the hematology is between dogs and cats exemplifies how different eagle hematology may be from a parrot, or an iguana from a snake.
Sepsis is defined as the systemic inflammatory response to an infection. We commonly see patients that have a clinical presentation that appears similar to sepsis, but no source of infection can be identified. This syndrome has been termed the systemic inflammatory response syndrome or SIRS.
QA, as it relates to the clinical laboratory, is an all encompassing program for the systematic monitoring and evaluation of the various aspects of producing laboratory results to ensure that standards of quality are being met.
When a patient first arrives we have all been taught the ABCs of emergency care. We know that the assurance of a clear airway is paramount and the first thing we should all do, and then we move one to B and assure breathing is adequate. Then we move on to C (for cardiovascular) and assess and ensure the heart is pumping and pumping adequately... This process is termed vertical resuscitation and is a "step by step" process that is completed in a "priority of need" sequence.
The principles of management of patients with severe lung disease and injury are summarized and the cases depicting the use if these management techniques are presented
This session will discuss basic methodologies used by selected common biochemistry analyzers and quality assurance issues which may result in better understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of various instrument types and ultimately assist with instrument selection.
From the very first time I was faced with the responsibility of possibly having to respond to an emergency when I was a young boy scout (at age 11) to just yesterday when I was an emergency clinician at the Pet Emergency Clinic, the immediate goal was "to make everything ready".
Practical management of severe wounds and open fractures begins with initial assessment and management. The first priority is the control of severe hemorrhage that may be associated with the injury.
