Joint team success: from pain to gain with multimodal osteoarthritis management

Abstract

Pain is a key feature of osteoarthritis. The generation of pain in osteoarthritis is complex and remains a constant threat that can never be completely eliminated throughout the course of the disease. The individual patient's ability to tolerate pain, especially chronic pain, is significant and often leads to an underestimation of the toll this is placing on the affected animal, leading to a poor quality of life. Osteoarthritis is a complex chronic disease and benefits from a multimodal approach where different key elements are targeted simultaneously or over time. In a lifelong disease such as osteoarthritis, regular review and re-adjustment is an essential part of sustained management. Mobility clinics with a multi-professional approach are an efficient way of managing these patients.