Comparison of carprofen and firocoxib as analgesic for post-operative pain management in clinical cases of canine orthopaedic surgery

Canine orthopaedic surgery is always associated with varied degree of pre-operative and post-operative pain, and the assessment of pain in canine is not easy as in humans. This study was carried out in 36 cases of long bone fracture in dogs and which was further managed with locking compression plate and bone substitute. Thirty-six animals were randomly divided into three groups and in each group carprofen and firocoxib used as analgesic in 6 animals to know the analgesic effect of drugs in orthopaedic surgery. Pain assessment in the dogs was carried out using objective assessments, including the Hansen score card and lameness scoring. Result showed no significant differences in the scores between the groups at all measured intervals in behavior and biological variables of Hansen score card. Values of lameness scoring gradually decreased from day 7 to day 90 in all groups of Carprofen and Firocoxib treated group in present study. Values of lameness scoring were found non-significant between groups but differed significantly within groups at different intervals. Based on these, two scoring system there was no significant difference was found between analgesic effect of Carprofen and Firocoxib for pain management in canine orthopaedic cases. However, further study is required for scoring system alongwith it physiological parameters should be correlated and validate to know the effect of the analgesic and its comparison.