A review of the human and veterinary literature on local anaesthetics and their intra-articular use. Relevant information for lameness diagnosis in the dog.

Lameness in dogs is often a diagnostic challenge. In many cases it is difficult to determine the exact localisation of lameness because of the absence of palpable changes, or because of unreliable pain response due to high pain tolerance, stress or aggression of the dog. In horses and humans, intra-articular administration of local anaesthetics is commonly used for diagnostic purposes. In this review, information from human and veterinary studies on different local anaesthetic agents and their application for diagnostic intra-articular anaesthesia is given. Based on this information, a protocol for diagnostic intra-articular anaesthesia in the dog can be developed and evaluated in future studies.