Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
How meloxicam causes stomach ulcers in dogs over time
By Elfadadny, Ahmed et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary internal medicine·2021·Department of Animal Internal Medicine·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: A comparative time-dependent study of hematology, serum gastrin concentrations, and gastroscopic assessment of meloxicam-induced gastric ulceration in dogs.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of 15 crossbreed dogs was studied to understand how meloxicam, a common pain medication, can cause stomach ulcers. The dogs treated with meloxicam showed signs of anemia, like lower red blood cell counts, and their serum gastrin levels (a marker for stomach issues) increased over time. Gastroscopy, a procedure to look inside the stomach, confirmed the presence of ulcers in these dogs. The study found that serum gastrin levels could help predict the severity of the ulcers seen during gastroscopy. This means that if your dog is on meloxicam and shows symptoms like vomiting or loss of appetite, a vet may check their gastrin levels to assess for potential stomach ulcers.
People also search for: dog vomiting meloxicam side effects · dog stomach ulcers treatment · meloxicam gastric ulcer symptoms
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Diagnosis of gastric ulcers by methods other than gastroscopy in dogs has been problematic for many years and biomarkers such as serum gastrin (SG) concentrations have been introduced as a noninvasive way to evaluate gastric diseases. OBJECTIVES: To determine the time course changes in hematology, SG concentrations, and gastroscopic images of meloxicam-induced gastric ulceration in dogs and identify a relationship between SG and gastroscopic image analysis in a clinical setting. ANIMALS: Fifteen crossbreed dogs. METHODS: Two groups: control (n = 5) and meloxicam-treated (n = 10). The meloxicam-treated group received meloxicam 0.2 mg/kg PO for 15 days. Clinical signs, hematology, SG, and image analysis (PI, pixel intensity; ID, integrated density; RA, relative area; and UI, ulcer index) of the gastroscopic examination were evaluated across time (T5, time 5 day; T10, time 10 day; and T15, time 15 day). RESULTS: Significant changes were observed among 3 time points and between the 2 groups in terms of SG, hematology, and gastroscopic image analysis. In the meloxicam-treated group, decreases in hemoglobin concentration, red blood cell count and packed cell volume at T10 and T15 (P = .0001) were observed, whereas SG, ID, and UI increased over time (P < .0001). The PI decreased significantly (P = .0001) in the meloxicam-treated group compared to controls. Significant correlations were found between SG and PI, and ID and ulcer area (r = -0.89, 0.81, 0.64), respectively. CONCLUSION AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: Gastroscopy is the gold standard for early descriptive diagnosis of gastric ulcerations in dogs, and SG is a good indicator for meloxicam-induced gastric ulcers in dogs and can predict the gastroscopic score of the lesion.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34464464/