Clinical diagnosis and treatment of suspected neuropathic pain in three dogs |
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| Authors: | RG Cashmore TR Harcourt-Brown PM Freeman ND Jeffery N Granger |
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| Institution: | The Queen's Veterinary School Hospital, Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0ES, United Kingdom;;
The Veterinary Practice, Millennium Way, Braintree, Essex, UK |
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| Abstract: | Three dogs were referred to The Queen's Veterinary School Hospital at University of Cambridge for chronic behavioural or locomotor disorders associated with pain. All three had been unsuccessfully treated with conventional analgesics, including non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, glucocorticoids and opiate agonists, prior to referral, with minimal or no response. They were investigated by neurological examination plus conventional ancillary diagnostic tests and therapeutic drug trials. Ruling out other causes of pain and applying previously well-described criteria, each case was diagnosed as consistent with neuropathic pain, a poorly recognised condition in domestic dogs. Treatment with the tricyclic antidepressant drug, amitriptyline, or the antiepileptic drug, gabapentin, resulted in either a dramatic improvement or full resolution of clinical signs in all cases. |
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| Keywords: | dogs antiepileptic drugs neuropathic pain review tricyclic antidepressants trigeminal neuralgia |
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