Use of carprofen for the treatment of pain and inflammation in dogs

T h e goal of medical management for osteoarthritis (OA) should be to improve quality of lire by controlling pain , increa ing mobility, pr venting conlinued degradation of affecl.edjoin ts, and providing suppon t reparative processes.T his goal is most uccessfully achieved by balanced implem.entaLiol1 of weight and • x rd e conu'ol programs logeLh I' with drug trealment.The drugs Lhal are used ar dra>,vl1 from 4 calegoric : agelHs intended for use in human bein , incluclingover-lhe-counter (OTC) drug ; veterinary nonsteroidal anli-inllammalory drug C SALD) ; teroids; and nutracetltical and glycosaminoglycans.Of these, the ones mosl commonly recommended for medical treatment of OA in dogs are NSAID.These agents typically are antipyretic, analgesic, and anti-inflammatory, but not all N ID have all of these efCe ts/ and the ana lgesic do e of most 1 SAID is about haH Lhe all.Uinflammatory do e, [or rea 011S thatar nol completely undel' lood .l on tel' idal anti-innammatory drugs suppre s symhesi of prostaglandins by inhibiting transformation of arachidonic acid to pro tagl;:ll1di.nsvia bLo kage of the enzyme cyclooxyge.nase(C OX) .The NSAID also exert an inhibitory effect on neutrophil activation that is independent of COX inhibition.l Some N AID have on ly limited anti-in rlammatory activity, p ibly becall e by blod ing only the COX pathway f the arachidonic add ca cade, lhey a llow precur ors to enter the lipoxygenase pathway and still cause considerable inflammation.3 The choice of which NSAID to use in veterinary practice is influenced by facLOrs such as genera l use in the human sector (which is h avil y influenced by media advertising), til wide rang of pr ducts avai lable OTC, a lack ofunde.rstanding of product difference "in the human sector, and a failure to appreciate agent dissimilariUes among differenL pe ie .N n t~roida l anti-inrlammaLory drug are exu'emely valuable and g nerall)1 well-tol erated agents for trearmenr of 0/\ and mu culo keletal disorders, but Lhe are potentiaHy letha l irritants of lh ga trointe tinal (GO muco a and 'enal sy tem,' can cau bl >eding l nd encies by preventing thromboxane /\2 fo rmation in p latelets (which decreas ' platelet adhesion);' and may inhibit enzyme activity required.for chondrocyte replication and b. ioynrhesi f proteoglycan within arLicular ca rtllage.5 Mo t ludic f N AID do not demonstrate appreciable differences in eEficacy.6 As awarene of the adverse effect asso iated with N A1D use increases, safety is becoming the primary concern among phYSicians when selecting NSAID for use by their human patients.