Short‐term outcomes following intra‐articular biomaterial injection for pain secondary to stifle osteoarthritis and suspected cranial cruciate ligament injury in dogs

Background The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of a proprietary collagen–elastin hydrogel microparticulate (CEHM) intra‐articular injection into canine stifles with suspected cranial cruciate disease (CCD) and osteoarthritis (OA). Methods Forty client‐owned dogs over 6 months of age and diagnosed with suspected unilateral CCD or OA, without prior surgical or medical intervention, were enroled. A Simon's two‐stage clinical trial design was used, as previously described in human literature. Each stifle was injected with the CEHM device and followed over 84 days. Serial examinations with modified Glasgow composite pain score (mGCPS) and additional subjective clinician‐ and owner‐derived scoring scales were obtained at predefined time points. Results Twenty‐two dogs had a 25% or greater improvement in the primary measured parameter, mGCPS, giving a response rate of 55%. There were also statistically significant improvements in all other subjectively measured parameters. Limitations The limitations of the study were the lack of objective lameness measurements, surgical confirmation of CCD, blinding, randomisation and a control population to account for possible placebo effect. Conclusions The CEHM device demonstrates feasibility in suspected canine CCD and stifle OA, within the measured subjective parameters of this proof‐of‐concept study. Additional objective investigations are recommended.