Rimadyl® receives perioperative pain claim

There's important news for veterinary professionals who are committedto addressing surgical pain in their canine patients: Rimadyl® (carprofen)caplets have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration foruse in controlling postoperative pain associated with both soft tissue andorthopedic surgery in dogs. This means Rimadyl can now be administered beforeand after surgery to manage pain. The dosage and administration of Rimadylfor perioperative pain is the same as that for osteoarthritis pain and inflammation:2 mg/lb (4.4 mg/kg) of body weight administered once daily, or divided andadministered as 1 mg/lb (2.2 mg/kg) of body weight twice daily. "Painmanagement is an area of increasing focus in veterinary hospitals today,"states Eric Schreiber, director of marketing, Companion Animal Division,Pfizer Animal Health. "With the approval of Rimadyl for surgical pain,veterinarians and their staff members now have more tools to manage painin dogs." The safety and efficacy of Rimadyl for managing the painof soft tissue and orthopedic surgery were proven in three clinical fieldtrials conducted at 21 veterinary hospitals across the United States. Theseplacebo-controlled, double-blinded trials involved a total of 297 dogs andevaluated the effectiveness of a once-daily dose of Rimadyl in controllingpain associated with one of three common procedures: ovariohysterectomy,aural surgery and cruciate repair. In all three studies, dogs were administeredRimadyl or placebo once on day 0, approximately two hours prior to the procedure,followed by additional daily treatments, as needed, for up to three daysafter surgery. Using a visual analog scale, a trained hospital employeeassessed animals for pain both before and after surgery. Samples for hematology,clinical chemistry, coagulation, urinalysis and fecal occult blood testsalso were collected before and after surgery. In all studies, dogs treatedwith Rimadyl consistently had lower pain scores after surgery. In addition,no serious adverse drug experiences related to study treatment were reportedand the most common side effects - vomiting, abnormal feces, inappetenceand abnormal laboratory test results - were similar for Rimadyl and placebo-treateddogs, the company says. "Rimadyl was found to be effective and safein managing perioperative pain in dogs in both soft-tissue and orthopedicsurgeries," states J. Michael McFarland, DVM, Dipl. ABVP, directorof Pfizer Animal Health's Sedation and Pain Management Team. "Priorto this, veterinarians' choices were limited to off-label medications andcontrolled-substance products. The approval of Rimadyl for perioperativeuse marks a milestone in veterinary medicine and an opportunity for veterinariansto learn about the unique benefits NSAIDs offer for surgical pain management."

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