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79 IN SUMMARY While HWd can be a complex disease to explain, the simple act of administering on-time heartworm preventives can help ensure a lifetime of patient health. Understanding what unique factors may stand in the way of individual clients performing this act is key to improving compliance (Table, page 76). aaHa = american animal Hospital association; aHs = american Heartworm society; Fda = Food and drug administration; HWd = heartworm disease References 1. Jones s. Key fndings from the 2013 american Heartworm society survey. Today Vet Pract 2014; 4(4):69-71. 2. Medical Dictionary for the Health Professions and Nursing. compliance. available at medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/compliance. 3. aaHa. 2009 aaHa compliance follow-up study. in albers J, Hardesty c (eds): Compliance: Taking Quality Care to the Next Level. Lakewood, co: aaHa, 2009, pp 1-17. 4. data on fle, 2015. Merial, inc., duluth, Ga.HGd15TrTecHdeTaiLer (03/15). 5. Partners for Healthy Pets: aaHa-aVMa. Reversing the Decline in Veterinary Care Utilization: Progress Made, Challenges Remain. available at partnersforhealthypets. org/Uploads/iv4kcp3e.juc/VetcareUsagestudy_WhitePaper_July2014.pdf. 6. Jin J, sklar Ge, oh VMs, Li sc. Factors affecting therapeutic compliance: a review from the patient's perspective. Ther Clin Risk Manag 2008; 4(1):269-286. 7. Merola V, eubig P. Toxicology of avermectins and milbemycins (macrocyclic lactones) and the role of P glycoprotein in dogs and cats. Vet Clin North Am Small Anim Prac 2012; Mar 42(2):313-333; available at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ pmc/articles/PMc4152460. The Back Page continued from page 80 How best can clinicians put the 2015 guidelines into practice? Practitioners should critically evaluate their practices' perioperative protocols and compare them with the recommendations in the 2015 guidelines. For example, one may fnd that the practice is doing quite well—utilizing opioids, a tranquilizer/sedative, and nsaids—but not yet utilizing local anesthetics with every surgical procedure. in this case, adding a line block with lidocaine or bupivacaine is an effcient, safe, and effective—not to mention inexpensive—way to align with the strong recommendations made in the 2015 guidelines to: • Provide superior patient comfort • improve recoveries • Lower anesthetic requirements • diminish postoperative patient morbidity. overall, the 2015 guidelines are a force- multiplier for the busy practitioner by: • Promoting a pain-aware culture in the practice • Presenting a quick reference on pain assessment, plus a toolbox of pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic interventions • Providing guidance on evidence-based approaches to prevention and treatment of surgical and dJd-related pain. Describe the value of being a task force member for this project? every task force member that contributed to the 2015 aaHa/aaFP Pain Management Guidelines for dogs and cats was very serious about their obligation to "get it right" because we realized the effect the guidelines would have on the profession for years to come. We emphasized an evidence-based approach, and when the evidence was weak or conficting, we developed a consensus of expert opinion. However, we recognize the imperfect nature of such a task, and the resulting document requires constant vigilance and continual updates. The task force members feel privileged to have been given the opportunity to focus on one of the most important domains of veterinary clinical practice— the recognition, assessment, prevention, and treatment of pain in our patients. tvpjournal.com | september/october 2015