The beneficial role of companion animals in translational pain research.

The use of spontaneous painful disease in companion pet animals has been highlighted as one of the changes that could be made to help improve translation of basic science to new therapeutics, acting as a bridge between preclinical and clinical studies, with the goal of accelerating the approval of new therapeutics. This review focuses on the utility of companion pet dogs for translational research by reviewing what outcome measures can be measured, and importantly, the relevance of these outcome measures to human translational research. It also details the practical considerations involved in incorporating companion dogs into human therapeutic development.

Initial psychometric testing and validation of the French version of the Canine Brief Pain Inventory.

OBJECTIVE: The Canine Brief Pain Inventory (CBPI) is an owner-completed questionnaire quantifying the severity and impact of chronic pain in dogs. The English version of the CBPI was adapted into French and the objective of this study was to validate this French version of the CBPI. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective clinical study. ANIMALS: A group of 32 dogs with a medical history, clinical signs and radiographic evidence consistent with osteoarthritis. METHODS: Owners of dogs with osteoarthritis who were native French speakers completed a single administration of the translated questionnaire. The psychometric properties were evaluated including construct validity (by factor analysis), reliability (internal consistency) and convergent validity. RESULTS: Factor analysis on the responses from this cohort confirmed a two-factor questionnaire: the Pain Severity (PS) factor and the Pain Interference (PI) factor. The mean inter-item correlation for PS and PI questions was 0.74 and 0.53, respectively. These findings reveal strong internal consistency, suggesting that the questions contained within each factor measure the same concept and can be pooled to generate the PS score (PSS) and PI score (PIS). Cronbach's α was 0.91 and 0.87 for PSS and PIS, respectively. There was strong negative correlation between PSS and PIS with the overall quality of life score (r = -0.62 and r = -0.79, respectively, with p < 0.001 for both), consistent with the hypothesis that increases in PS and PS with function are highly correlated with a corresponding decrease in overall quality of life. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Initial validation of this French version of the CBPI represents an important step in the expanded use of validated owner-completed outcome assessment instruments for use by researchers and clinicians who seek reliable methods to quantify the severity and impact of chronic pain in dogs with osteoarthritis.

Short-term clinical outcome of laparoscopic liver biopsy in dogs: 106 cases (2003-2013).

OBJECTIVE: To describe the operative technique, complications, and conversion rates for laparoscopic liver biopsy (LLB) in dogs and evaluate short-term clinical outcome for dogs that underwent the procedure. DESIGN: Retrospective case series. ANIMALS: 106 client-owned dogs. PROCEDURES: Medical records were reviewed to identify dogs that underwent an LLB with a single-port or multiport technique at either of 2 veterinary teaching hospitals from August 2003 to September 2013. Demographic and laboratory data, preoperative administration of fresh frozen plasma, procedural and diagnostic information, intraoperative complications, and survival to discharge were recorded. The LLB specimens were obtained with 5-mm laparoscopic biopsy cup forceps and a grasp-and-twist technique. RESULTS: Prior to surgery, 25 of 94 (27%) dogs had coagulopathy (prothrombin time or partial thromboplastin time greater than the facility reference ranges, regardless of platelet count). Twenty-one dogs were thrombocytopenic, 14 had ascites, and 14 received fresh frozen plasma transfusion before surgery. In all cases, biopsy samples collected were of sufficient size and quality for histopathologic evaluation. Two dogs required conversion to an open laparotomy because of splenic laceration during initial port placement. One hundred one of 106 dogs survived to discharge; 5 were euthanized during hospitalization owing to progression of liver disease and poor prognosis. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Single-port and multiport LLB were found to be effective, minimally invasive diagnostic techniques with a low rate of complications. Results suggested LLB can be safely used in dogs with underlying coagulopathies and advanced liver disease.