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References

2015 AAHA/AAFP Pain Management Guidelines for Dogs and Cats

Summary:

The included pain management “guidelines continue the trend in all branches of medicine toward evidence-based consensus statements that address key issues in clinical practice. Although not a review article, this compilation is a force multiplier for the busy practitioner, consolidating in a single place current recommendations and insights from experts in pain management.”

Conclusion:

“Behavioral changes are the principal indicator of pain and its resolution, for which there are now several validated, clinical scoring instruments. Pain is not an isolated event but instead exists either as a continuum of causation, progression, and resolution or as a chronic condition. Thus treatment of pain should consist of a continuum of care in the form of anticipatory analgesia through the anticipated pain period followed by longer-term or even chronic treatment that relies on periodic reassessment of the patient’s response.”

Author & Journal:Epstein, Mark et al, Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association, 2016
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Ability of the Canine Brief Pain Inventory to detect response to treatment in dogs with osteoarthritis

Summary:

To determine whether the Canine Brief Pain Inventory (CBPI) can detect changes in dogs with osteoarthritis treated with an NSAID or a placebo.

Conclusion:

The CBPI was able to detect improvements in pain scores in dogs with osteoarthritis treated with an NSAID or a placebo. These results, in combination with previous reliability and validity testing, support the use of the CBPI to obtain quantifiable assessments from owners regarding the severity and impact of chronic pain and treatment for dogs with osteoarthritis.

Author & Journal:Climino Brown, Dorothy et al, Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 2008
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Accuracy of pressure plate kinetic asymmetry indices and their correlation with visual gait assessment scores in lame and nonlame dogs

Summary:

“To determine the accuracy of pressure plate kinetic asymmetry indices (ASIs) for diagnosis of unilateral hind limb lameness in dogs and their correlation with visual gait assessment (VGA) scores.”

Conclusion:

“Results indicated that ASIs of PVF and VI deter- mined via analysis of pressure plate measurements were reliable indicators of clinical lame- ness in dogs, but the ASI of PVP was not. The ASI of PCA is an interesting new variable for assessment of limb loading symmetry.”

Author & Journal:Oosterlinck, Maarten, et al, Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 2011
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Amantadine in a Multimodal Analgesic Regimen for Alleviation of Refractory Osteoarthritis Pain in Dogs

Summary:

“Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) do not always provide sufficient pain relief in dogs with osteoarthritis (OA). Hypothesis: The use of amantadine in addition to NSAID therapy will provide improved pain relief when compared with the use of nonsteroidal analgesics alone in naturally occurring OA in dogs.”

Conclusion:

“In dogs with osteoarthritic pain refractory to an NSAID, physical activity is improved by the addition of amantadine. Amantadine might be a useful adjunct therapy for the clinical management of canine osteoarthritic pain.”

Author & Journal:Lascelles, B.D. et al, Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine, 2008
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Assessing Chronic Pain In Dogs

Summary:

“Finding precise, reliable, and accurate measures of chronic pain in animals is a difficult effort. However, much research has gone into developing measurement methods to evaluate chronic pain in dogs (and, more recently, cats); this article reviews the pain scales currently available.”

Conclusion:

Details in linked article reviews the following pain scales: Helsinki Chronic Pain Index, Canine Brief Pain Index, Cincinnati Orthopedic Disability Index, Liverpool Osteoarthritis in Dogs.

Author & Journal:Epstein, Mark E., Today’s Veterinary Practice, 2013
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Assessing repeatability and validity of a visual analogue scale questionnaire for use in assessing pain and lameness in dogs

Summary:

“To develop a visual analogue scale (VAS) questionnaire that is repeatable and valid for use in assessing pain and lameness in dogs.”

Conclusion:

“The VAS questionnaire was repeatable and valid for use in assessing the degree of mild to moderate lameness in dogs.”

Author & Journal:Hudson, Jonathon, et al, American Journal of Veterinary Research, 2004
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Association among exercise duration, lameness severity, and hip joint range of motion in Labrador Retrievers with hip dysplasia.

Summary:

To evaluate factors associated with lameness severity and hip joint range of motion in dogs with hip dysplasia and to assess the association between hip joint range of motion and degree of lameness.

Conclusion:

Conclusion:Longer daily exercise duration was associated with lower lameness scores in dogs with hip dysplasia. Dogs with hip joint luxation secondary to hip dysplasia had higher lameness scores than did dogs without hip joint luxation.

Author & Journal:Greene LM, et al. JAVMA 2013.
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Canine Hip Dysplasia: Reviewing the Evidence for Nonsurgical Management

Summary:

This systematic review of available evidence for nonsurgical management of hip dysplasia considered 14 articles and scored nonsurgical management including: activity restrictions, weight management, acupuncture, modulation of joint disease by polysulfated glycosaminoglycans, mesenchymal stem cell therapy, and extra corporeal shock wave therapy.

Conclusion:

“Weight management is an effective and important component of managing dogs with HD and associated osteoarthritis. Techniques that modulate the progression of joint disease may also be beneficial for treating dogs with HD. Further studies are needed to investigate other methods of managing HD such as hydrotherapy and physical rehabilitation.”

Author & Journal:Shaw, Kristin Kirkby et al, Veterinary Surgery, 2012
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Canine Orthopedic Outcome Measures Program: Where Are We Now?

Summary:

The overall goal of COMP was to advance veterinary orthopedic patient care by providing and supporting mechanisms for all clinicians, researchers, industry partners, and regulatory bodies to produce, assess, and implement the highest evidentiary value data for evaluation of safety and efficacy of diagnostic and therapeutic modalities. At project initiation, we estimated that it would take more than 1 million dollars to recruit key personnel, design appropriate studies, produce data, and create, validate and implement the instruments(s). After 6 years of intensive work in all of these areas, a tremendous amount of progress has been made. This editorial summarizes the COMP’s efforts and results, and suggests a way forward to our ultimate goal of optimal patient-centered, evidence based care in veterinary orthopedics.”

Conclusion:

“The good news is that we now have a number of excellent options for effectively measuring outcomes in clinical and translational studies in dogs. The bad news is that we now have a number of different options to sort through to determine what is optimal for each study. So what should you do?” Click the link for the full article and listed solutions from the author.

Author & Journal:Cook, James L., Veterinary Surgery, 2014
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Cannabinoids as Pharmacotherapies for Neuropathic Pain: From the Bench to the Bedside.

Summary:

A review of studies evaluating cannabinoids for neuropathic pain management in the clinical and preclinical literature.

Conclusion:

“The present review suggests that cannabinoids show promise for treatment of neuropathic pain in humans either alone or as an add-on to other therapeutic agents. Further evaluation of safety profiles associated with long term effects of cannabinoids are, therefore, warranted.”

Author & Journal:Rahn, EJ, et al, Neurotherapeutics, 2009
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