Objective: To evaluate epidurally administered deracoxib and its ability to mediate clinical signs and effects of a sodium urate crystal-induced stifle synovitis in dogs, and to compare the effects of epidural versus subcutaneously injected deracoxib. Study Design: Experimental, randomized, double-blinded, placebo controlled modified cross over design. Animals or Study Population: 24 random source adult mixed breed dogs, 14 males and 10 females. Methods: Sodium urate crystals were used to create a stifle synovitis model to evaluate the effectiveness of administered deracoxib. Dogs were divided into four treatment groups; 3 mg/kg epidural deracoxib, 1.5 mg/kg epidural deracoxib, 3 mg/kg subcutaneous deracoxib and a placebo group (the vehicle for deracoxib was used). Force plate and subjective evaluations were performed at Time 0, 2, 4, 8, 12, and 24 hours post treatment. A repeated measures ANOVA with Bonferroni-corrected post-hoc comparisons was used to determine treatment effects. Results: Overall, peak vertical force (PVF) and vertical impulse (VI) were both significantly higher in all deracoxib treated dogs compared to placebo. Both 3 mg/kg epidural and subcutaneous deracoxib had significantly higher PVF and VI than 1.5 mg/kg epidural deracoxib. The overall pain score for all deracoxib treated dogs was significantly lower than the placebo treated dogs. Conclusions: Epidural deracoxib is effective at providing analgesia in an acute pain model, but it does not appear to be more effective than systemic administration. Clinical Relevance: The use of injectable deracoxib is effective in providing analgesia in acute inflammatory conditions of the stifle joint in dogs. / Master of Science

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal