Abstract
Background: There are limited published data on the analgesic efficacy of 26 paracetamol/codeine in dogs.
Methods: Prospective, randomized, blinded, positive-controlled clinical trial with 70 dogs (paracetamol/codeine, n = 46; meloxicam, n = 24) undergoing surgery. Drugs were administered orally two hours before and for 48 hours after surgery at the licensed dose. Anaesthesia was standardised. Dogs received buprenorphine 6- hourly for the first 24 hours after surgery. Outcome assessments were made pre-trial and at regular intervals up to 48 hours after extubation and comprised the Glasgow Composite Measure Pain Score (GCMPS-SF), visual analogue scale for sedation and inflammation and mechanical nociceptive threshold (MNT). Non-inferiority of paracetamol/codeine compared with meloxicam was defined using a non-inferiority margin (Δ) against the 95% confidence interval of the difference between the treatment means.
Results: Pain scores were low in both treatment groups. With the exception of MNT all upper 95% confidence intervals for the differences between outcome variable treatment means were within + Delta for each variable, establishing non-inferiority for each outcome variable.
Conclusions: Paracetamol/codeine is a useful peri-operative analgesic that within the context of the peri-operative analgesia regimen studied (methadone premedication, buprenorphine for the 1st 24 hours after surgery) shows non-inferiority to the NSAID meloxicam.
Methods: Prospective, randomized, blinded, positive-controlled clinical trial with 70 dogs (paracetamol/codeine, n = 46; meloxicam, n = 24) undergoing surgery. Drugs were administered orally two hours before and for 48 hours after surgery at the licensed dose. Anaesthesia was standardised. Dogs received buprenorphine 6- hourly for the first 24 hours after surgery. Outcome assessments were made pre-trial and at regular intervals up to 48 hours after extubation and comprised the Glasgow Composite Measure Pain Score (GCMPS-SF), visual analogue scale for sedation and inflammation and mechanical nociceptive threshold (MNT). Non-inferiority of paracetamol/codeine compared with meloxicam was defined using a non-inferiority margin (Δ) against the 95% confidence interval of the difference between the treatment means.
Results: Pain scores were low in both treatment groups. With the exception of MNT all upper 95% confidence intervals for the differences between outcome variable treatment means were within + Delta for each variable, establishing non-inferiority for each outcome variable.
Conclusions: Paracetamol/codeine is a useful peri-operative analgesic that within the context of the peri-operative analgesia regimen studied (methadone premedication, buprenorphine for the 1st 24 hours after surgery) shows non-inferiority to the NSAID meloxicam.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | e61 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Veterinary Record |
| Volume | 187 |
| Issue number | 8 |
| Early online date | 3 Jan 2020 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Oct 2020 |
Keywords
- paracetamol/codeine
- dogs
- peri-operative pain
- analgesia
- meloxicam