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Pain Management

Effect of acupuncture on pain and quality of life in canine neurological and musculoskeletal diseases.

Summary:

This prospective study investigated the effects of acupuncture alone or combined with analgesics in chronic pain and quality of lifeassessed by owners for up to 24 weeks in 181 dogs with neurological and musculoskeletal diseases. The scores before and after the onset of treatment were evaluated using the Wilcoxon test and the evolution of success was evaluated by Kaplan-Meier curves. Differences were considered significant at P < 0.05.

Conclusion:

The success rates for Helsinki chronic pain index (HCPI), quality of life assessment, and visual analog scales (VAS) for pain and locomotion were 79%, 84%, 78%, and 78% of the animals, respectively, when both diseases and groups of treatment were combined. Dogs with musculoskeletal disorders had greater improvement in HCPI (P = 0.003) and VAS locomotion (P = 0.045) than those with neurological disorders. Use of acupuncture alone or in combination with analgesics reduced pain and improved quality of life in dogs with neurological and musculoskeletal diseases.

Author & Journal:Silva NE, et al, Can Vet J 58(9):941-951, 2017
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Effect of polysulfated glycosaminoglycan on DNA content and proteoglycan metabolism in normal and osteoarthritic canine articular cartilage explants.

Summary:

To study the effect of polysulfated glycosaminoglycan (PSGAG) on proteoglycan metabolism and DNA content of control and osteoarthritic (OA) cartilage.

Conclusion:

OA cartilage was responsive to treatment with PSGAG at 100-fold lower concentration than control cartilage. When treated with PSGAG, articular cartilage explants maintained or increased DNA content at the expense of proteoglycan synthesis. Following MMP activation, proteoglycan degradation was inhibited in OA and control explants in a dose-dependent manner.

Author & Journal:Sevalla K, et al, Vet Surg 2000;29: 407-414
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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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Long-term efficacy and safety of firocoxib in the treatment of dogs with osteoarthritis.

Summary:

Thirty-nine client-owned dogs with osteoarthritis were treated with 5 mg/kg firocoxib administered orally, once a day for 52 weeks. Veterinary examinations were performed on approximately days 0, 15, 90, 180, 270 and 360. Twenty-five dogs completed the study. The withdrawal rate associated with gastrointestinal side effects was low (5.1 per cent of dogs).

Conclusion:

Based on the owners’ assessment, 82 per cent of the dogs had improved at day 15, 84 per cent of the 32 remaining dogs had improved at day 90, and 96 per cent of the 25 dogsthat completed the trial had improved at day 360. During this trial, 12 (48 per cent) of the 25 remaining dogs showed an improvement in their lameness from day 90 to day 360 (P<0.05).

Author & Journal:Autefage A, et al, Vet Rec 2011;168(23):617
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Effects of administration of adipose-derived stromal vascular fraction and platelet-rich plasma to dogs with osteoarthritis of the hip joints.

Summary:

To evaluate effects of simultaneous intra-articular and IV injection of autologous adipose-derived stromal vascular fraction (SVF) and platelet-rich plasma (PRP) to dogs with osteoarthritis of the hip joints. ANIMALS 22 client-owned dogs (12 placebo-treated [control] dogs and 10 treated dogs).

Conclusion:

For dogs with osteoarthritis of the hip joints treated with SVF and PRP, improvements in CBPI and PVF were evident at some time points, compared with results for the control group.

Author & Journal:Upchurch DA, et al, Am J Vet Res 2016;77:940-951
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Effect of analgesic therapy on clinical outcome measures in a randomized controlled trial using client-owned dogs with hip osteoarthritis.

Summary:

Pain and impaired mobility because of osteoarthritis (OA) is common in dogs and humans. Efficacy studies of analgesicdrug treatment of dogs with naturally occurring OA may be challenging, as a caregiver placebo effect is typically evident. However, little is known about effect sizes of common outcome-measures in canine clinical trials evaluating treatment of OA pain. Forty-nine client-owned dogs with hip OA were enrolled in a randomized, double-blinded placebo-controlled prospective trial. After a 1 week baseline period, dogs were randomly assigned to a treatment (ABT-116 – transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) antagonist, Carprofen – non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), Tramadol – synthetic opiate, or Placebo) for 2 weeks. Outcome-measures included physical examination parameters, owner questionnaire, activity monitoring, gait analysis, and use of rescue medication.

Conclusion:

Treatment of hip OA in client-owned dogs is associated with a placebo effect for all variables that are commonly used for efficacy studies of analgesic drugs. This likely reflects caregiver bias or the phenomenon of regression to the mean. In the present study, outcome measures with significant effects also varied between groups, highlighting the value of using multiple outcome measures, as well as an a priori analysis of effect size associated with each measure. Effect size data from the present study could be used to inform design of future trials studying analgesic treatment of canine OA. Our results suggest that analgesic treatment with ABT-116 is not as effective as carprofen or tramadol for treatment of hip arthritis pain in client-owned dogs.

Author & Journal:Malek S, et al, BMC Vet Research 2012;8:185
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Owner assessment of chronic pain intensity and results of gait analysis of dogs with hip dysplasia treated with acupuncture.

Summary:

To evaluate pain intensity and kinetic variables in dogs with hip dysplasia (HD) treated with acupuncture, carprofen, or a placebo.

Conclusion:

Neither acupuncture nor carprofen was significantly different from placebo. Acupuncture and carprofen reduced the degree of subjectively evaluated lameness, and acupuncture was associated with a decrease in validated chronic pain scores.

Author & Journal:Teixeira LR, et al, J Am Vet Med Assoc 249(9):1031-1039, 2016
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Effects of treatment with polysulfated glycosaminoglycan on serum cartilage oligomeric matrix protein and C-reactive protein concentrations, serum matrix metalloproteinase-2 and -9 activities, and lameness in dogs with osteoarthritis.

Summary:

To investigate the effects of polysulfated glycosaminoglycan (PSGAG) treatment on serum cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP) concentration, matrix metal-loproteinase-2 (MMP-2) and -9 (MMP-9) activities, C-reactive protein (CRP) concentration, and lameness scores in dogs with osteoarthritis.

Conclusion:

IM administration of PSGAG inhibited COMP degradation in dogs with osteoarthritis. Results indicate that decreases in serum COMP concentrations might be related to improvement in lameness after PSGAG treatment.

Author & Journal:Fujiki M, et al, Am J Vet Res 2007;68:827–833
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