Working towards an empowered, motivated, and globally unified veterinary profession that effectively recognizes and minimizes the prevalence and impact of pain
As veterinarians, managing our patients’ pain is one of the most important things we do but the current variations in effective pain management and treatment globally are a serious concern. The WSAVA Global Pain Council (GPC) strives to eliminate this ‘assessment/treatment gap’ because, while access to treatment modalities may vary from country to country, the ability to diagnose pain should not.
The GPC works to elevate levels of confidence and competence in recognizing and managing pain in small animals within the WSAVA’s global veterinary community and beyond. It does this in three ways:
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Developing WSAVA Pain Assessment and Treatment Guidelines
WSAVA Global Guidelines support companion animal veterinarians by setting minimum standards of care for conditions or issues of global relevance and recommending best practice. They aim to provide clinicians with clear diagnostic and treatment guidelines, wherever in the world they are in practice.
The WSAVA’s Global Pain Guidelines, authored by the GPC, were one of the first sets of WSAVA Guidelines to be created and one of the most frequently referenced. First published in 2014, they have been downloaded in full from the website of the Journal of Small Animal Practice almost 40,000 times, making them the fourth most downloaded full text article. They received more than 6,000 views on the WSAVA website last year.
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Developing educational programs and initiatives that promote improved awareness of animal pain and its management
GPC members have created a range of tools to support pain management. They have also raised awareness of the Feline Grimace Scale (FGS), which uses changes in facial expressions to assess pain. The FGS was developed and validated at the laboratory of GPC member Dr Paulo Steagall, in collaboration with researchers at the Université de Montréal. He developed the FGS website assisted by fellow GPC member, Dr Beatriz Monteiro.
Dr Paulo Steagall has also produced a series of videos to teach small animal veterinarians to perform a range of local anesthetic techniques. Local anesthetics are extremely important for the management of perioperative pain in dogs and cats so we urge veterinarians to familiarize themselves with these techniques.
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Build capability and capacity in assessing and managing animal pain internationally, through the supported development of talent
One of the ways the GPC does this is through its Teach the Teacher program, which aims to create a global network of key opinion leaders (KOLs) – ‘teachers’ – in pain management, who are motivated to propagate and disseminate their knowledge within their regions.
The GPC ran a Scholarship competition in 2020 to identify one veterinarian and one veterinary technician/nurse with a demonstrated interest in pain management and the potential to become a global KOL.
In Phase One of the GPC Scholarship, the selected candidates travel to a host location to receive 8-12 weeks of training in small animal pain management from members of the GPC. In Phase Two, they return to their country and run courses on pain management to local veterinarians or veterinary technicians/nurses and their WSAVA member association’s members.
Dr Nathanael Lutevele from Tanzania was selected as the Veterinarian Scholar in 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic means that he has not yet been able to take up the Scholarship but the GPC hopes that it will be possible to arrange this later in 2021. Details of the veterinary technician/nurse Scholar have just been announced. Read the full story here
Commenting on the work of the GPC, its Chair, Dr Duncan Lascelles says:
[blockquote author=”” link=”” target=”_blank”]Companion animals are sentient and this is what makes pain management such an important issue for veterinary professionals. The GPC is a closely knit team of highly experienced veterinarians with a passion for reducing pain and suffering.[/blockquote]
Dr Duncal Lascelles, Chair of the GPC
[blockquote author=”” link=”” target=”_blank”]Our most urgent priority is to reduce variations in the assessment and management of pain around the world through the creation of regionally specific resources and targeted education and we believe that the educational activities and initiatives we undertake are helping us to achieve this goal.[/blockquote]
The work of the GPC is generously supported by Zoetis, a Platinum Partner to the WSAVA. We are very grateful for its support.
Dr Mike McFarland
Dr Mike McFarland, Chief Medical Officer at Zoetis says:
[blockquote author=”” link=”” target=”_blank”]At Zoetis, we believe that the bond between people and their pets is special. Together with the leaders at WSAVA and the Global Pain Council, we can make the world a better place by nurturing and advancing care for animals and connecting with veterinarians worldwide to provide education and resources on pain management that will benefit even more pets.[/blockquote]
