CCAT Pain Management and Pharmacology 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A cat presents with chronic osteoarthritis pain. Which analgesic is approved by the FDA specifically for feline osteoarthritis pain management?
- Meloxicam oral solution
- Frunevetmab (Solensia) (Correct answer)
- Grapiprant
- Robenacoxib
Correct answer: Frunevetmab (Solensia)
Frunevetmab (Solensia) is an anti-NGF monoclonal antibody approved by the FDA specifically for feline osteoarthritis pain.
Question 2: Cold therapy (cryotherapy) reduces pain primarily through which mechanism?
- Increasing local blood flow to flush out mediators
- Decreasing nerve conduction velocity and reducing inflammation (Correct answer)
- Activating descending inhibitory pathways via thermoreceptors
- Releasing endogenous opioids from peripheral nerve endings
Correct answer: Decreasing nerve conduction velocity and reducing inflammation
Cryotherapy slows nerve conduction velocity, reduces metabolic activity, and decreases inflammatory mediator release to produce analgesia.
Question 3: Which of the following correctly describes multimodal analgesia?
- Using the highest effective dose of a single analgesic class
- Combining analgesics of different classes to achieve synergistic pain control (Correct answer)
- Alternating between opioids and NSAIDs on a daily schedule
- Using physical rehabilitation instead of pharmacological agents
Correct answer: Combining analgesics of different classes to achieve synergistic pain control
Multimodal analgesia combines agents with different mechanisms of action to achieve better pain control at lower individual doses, reducing side effects.
Question 4: Amantadine is added to a chronic pain protocol. Its analgesic benefit in dogs comes from:
- Inhibiting prostaglandin synthesis
- Blocking NMDA receptors to prevent central sensitization (Correct answer)
- Potentiating opioid binding at mu receptors
- Inhibiting substance P release from C-fibers
Correct answer: Blocking NMDA receptors to prevent central sensitization
Amantadine was originally an antiviral but acts as an NMDA receptor antagonist, helping prevent and treat central sensitization in chronic pain.
Question 5: A rehabilitation therapist documents 'allodynia' in a patient. This term specifically means:
- An exaggerated response to a normally painful stimulus
- Pain produced by a stimulus that does not normally cause pain (Correct answer)
- Spontaneous pain without any external stimulus
- Reduced sensitivity to painful stimuli after nerve injury
Correct answer: Pain produced by a stimulus that does not normally cause pain
Allodynia is the perception of pain from stimuli that are normally non-painful, such as light touch, and indicates central sensitization.
Question 6: Which of the following drugs is a full mu-opioid agonist commonly used for intraoperative and immediate post-operative analgesia in companion animals?
- Buprenorphine
- Butorphanol
- Hydromorphone (Correct answer)
- Tramadol
Correct answer: Hydromorphone
Hydromorphone is a full mu-opioid agonist that provides potent analgesia and is widely used perioperatively in veterinary patients.
Question 7: A dog with renal insufficiency is being managed for chronic pain. Which analgesic class carries the GREATEST risk of worsening renal function?
- Gabapentinoids
- NSAIDs (Correct answer)
- Amantadine
- Buprenorphine
Correct answer: NSAIDs
NSAIDs inhibit prostaglandin-mediated afferent arteriolar dilation that maintains glomerular filtration, making them hazardous in patients with compromised renal function.
CCAT Pain Management and Pharmacology 3
A cat presents with chronic osteoarthritis pain.
Which analgesic is approved by the FDA specifically for feline osteoarthritis pain management?