Chapter Outline:

Therapeutic Laser

Laser Therapy Basics

Common Laser Therapy Applications for General Practice

Laser Therapy Dosage Considerations

Recognition of Pain in Cats

• Acute Pain
• Chronic Pain

Metabolism of Drugs

Analgesic Drugs

• Opioids
• Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs
• a2-Adrenoceptor Agonists 
• Local Anesthetics
• Other Drugs - Tramadol, Gabapentin

ACUTE PAIN MANAGEMENT

Canine ovariohysterectomy

Canine castration

Feline ovariohysterectomy

Feline castration

Declaw - Front feet

Incisor extraction

Maxillectomy

Mandibulectomy

Nasal biopsy

Shoulder surgery

Elbow surgery

Radial and ulnar fracture repair

Forelimb amputation

Thoracotomy - sternotomy

Thoracotomy - intercostal

Laparotomy - intestinal resection and anastomosis

Laparotomy - cystotomy

Pancreatitis

Lumbosacral disk surgery

Tail amputation

Rear limb amputation

Bilateral femoral fracture repair

General trauma

Exercise-induced trauma

CHRONIC PAIN MANAGEMENT

Chronic cranial cruciate ligament disease

Generalized maladaptive pain

Spine osteoarthritis

Intervertebral disk disease

Hip and spine osteoarthritis

Bilateral hip dysplasia

Lumbosacral dorsal laminectomy, canine hip dysplasia, coxofemoral joint denervation, degenerative myelopathy

Back pain resulting from trauma

Midback pain resulting from a fall

Bilateral canine hip dysplasia and hip replacement

Degenerative joint disease of the hips

Degenerative joint disease

Pain related to radiation therapy

Pain related to forelimb amputation

This review introduces the three main types of stem cells relevant to veterinary applications – embryonic stem cells, induced pluripotent stem cells and mesenchymal stem cells – and draws together the research findings from in vitro and in vivo studies to give an overview of the current state-of-play of stem cell therapies for treating osteoarthritis in veterinary medicine.

The review concludes by discussing recent advances in tissue engineering, which is proposed as the future direction of effective stem cell-based therapies for osteoarthritis.