Assessment of enflicoxib efficacy in the control of postoperative pain and inflammation in dogs undergoing orthopaedic surgery. A pilot randomised clinical trial.

Postoperative pain is most effectively managed pre-emptively and enflicoxib characteristics make it a good candidate to control it with a single administration. To assess the efficacy of enflicoxib in the control of postoperative pain and inflammation associated with orthopaedic surgery, twenty-eight dogs were randomised to receive 8 mg/kg enflicoxib (n = 14) orally the day before surgery, or 0.2 mg/kg meloxicam (n = 14) subcutaneously at induction and orally at 0.1 mg/kg daily every 24 h for seven days. Veterinarians assessed efficacy with the Glasgow Composite Pain Scale Short-Form (GCPS-SF) at 1.5, 3, 5, 8, 24 and 168 h after surgery. Visual analog scales (VAS) were also used to assess pain at rest, pain at palpation and inflammation. Enflicoxib showed to be non-inferior to meloxicam in the GCPS-SF total scores, at each time point, and the area under the curve (GCPS-SF AUC) for the first 24 h. No differences were observed in VAS scores at any time point after surgery or the global efficacy as assessed by the veterinarians, or the dog's wellbeing assessed by the owners. Enflicoxib administered 24 h before surgery is efficacious and safe for the control of postoperative pain associated with orthopaedic surgery. One single dose would control postoperative pain and inflammation for one whole week. The results need further confirmation in larger sample size studies.