ACUTE AND CHRONIC OPIOID USE IN THE MANAGEMENT OF PAIN

摘要

Opium has a long history of medicinal use and recreational abuse. The first undisputed references to opium are found in the writings of Theophrastus in the third century B.C. In 1680, Sydenham wrote: “Among the remedies which it has pleased AlmightyGod to give to man to relieve his sufferings, none is so universal and so efficacious as opium”. Opium consists of numerous compounds, from which a number of therapeutic compounds such as morphine have been derived. In veterinary medicine, opioids are primarily used to provide analgesia and are the mainstay of acute pain management in dogs and cats. In oncology patients, opioids play a key role in the treatment of acute and chronic pain.