Papers of the Week

A 2-year-old polytraumatized male cat was admitted to a teaching hospital for correction of a defective inguinal herniorrhaphy. Upon arrival, the cat showed signs of neuropathic pain, including allodynia and hyperalgesia. Analgesic therapy was initiated with methadone and metamizole; however, 24 h later, the signs of pain continued. Reparative surgery was performed, and a multimodal analgesic regimen was administered (methadone, ketamine, wound catheter and epidural anesthesia). Postoperatively, the cat showed signs of severe pain, assessed using the UNESP-Botucatu multidimensional composite pain scale. Rescue analgesia was initiated, which included methadone, bupivacaine (subcutaneous wound-diffusion catheter) and transversus abdominis plane block. Because the response was incomplete, co-adjuvant therapy (pregabalin and electroacupuncture) was then implemented. Fourteen days after admission, the patient was discharged with oral tramadol and pregabalin for at-home treatment.