INVESTIGATIONS INTO HYPERLIPIDEMIA AND ITS POSSIBLE ...

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factors should always be investigated in dogs with pancreatitis. If any of these factors are
present, they should be managed as possible.
Other than that, the treatment of pancreatitis in dogs remains almost exclusively
supportive and symptomatic. Fluid therapy, in some cases including plasma transfusion,
is considered important in both humans and dogs with severe disease and hypovolemia
and/or dehydration. 165,196,208-215 Pain management is also considered crucial in cases of
both acute and chronic pancreatitis, when pain is present. 216-218 The use of antiemetic
medications is recommended in cases of pancreatitis where vomiting is present. 219-221
Routine antibiotic therapy is highly controversial and it is usually not recommended in
dogs unless an infection is present. 155,208,222-225
Finally, surgical intervention of
pancreatitis is rarely recommended in dogs unless certain complications occur (such as
pancreatic abscess, pancreatic pseudocyst, or extrahepatic biliary tract obstruction). 226-237
A plethora of other therapeutic agents have been recommended by some authors in both
veterinary and human medicine. 238-240
but there is currently no convincing evidence that
any of these agents is beneficial for the treatment of spontaneous pancreatitis in dogs.
The role of nutrition in the management of pancreatitis needs some attention. The
nutritional approach of humans with pancreatitis (especially acute pancreatitis) has been
the focus of extensive basic and clinical research for several decades.
241-243
Unfortunately, studies in dogs suffering specifically from either acute or pancreatitis are
sparse and therefore the nutritional approach in these cases is based on clinical
experience. 244-251 Questions regarding the nutritional approach of dogs with pancreatitis
have to do with the timing of feeding during an episode of acute pancreatitis, the route of