Effects of Butorphanol, Meloxicam and Their Combination on Postoperative Pain, Stress Response and Wound Healing in Dogs Following Ovariohysterectomy

Abstract

Pain, defined as an unpleasant sensory or emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage or described in terms of such damage, is associated with trauma, surgery and disease processes. If pain is not well managed in surgical patients, it can cause stress and impair wound healing in the affected patient. However, the interplay between pain, stress and wound healing in dogs is yet to be elucidated hence the need for this study. This was a two-phased study, where in phase one, a systematic review was carried out to evaluate the type of analgesic drugs and protocols used to manage pain postoperatively in dogs following ovariohysterectomy. Phase two was a randomized controlled clinical studyaimed at evaluating and comparing the effects of butorphanol, meloxicam and their combination on postoperative pain, stress response and wound healing in dogs after ovariohysterectomy. In the systematic review, literature searches in Pub Med, Google Scholar and Science Direct were conducted for peer reviewed articles written in English and published between 1995-2015. The key search words were dogs, ovariohysterectomy, pain and analgesics. This was followed by a manual search of the references within the primary data sources. Inclusion and exclusion of trials into the studywas performed independently by two reviewers. All randomized trials evaluating efficacy of analgesics after ovariohysterectomy in dogs were included. Data on the type of analgesic drugs used, the technique of their administration and the need for rescue analgesia were extracted from the papers.