Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Pain and cortisol levels in dogs with acute knee joint inflammation
By Feldsein, Judith D et al.·Published in American journal of veterinary research·2010·Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Serum cortisol concentration and force plate analysis in the assessment of pain associated with sodium urate-induced acute synovitis in dogs.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of healthy hound-type dogs had their pain levels assessed after a procedure that caused inflammation in the stifle joint (knee). Researchers measured their cortisol levels, which increased significantly within a few hours, indicating pain. The study found that a cortisol level above 1.6 micrograms per deciliter was a strong indicator of pain, although some dogs without pain might also show elevated levels. This suggests that measuring cortisol could help vets diagnose pain in dogs, but further testing in a wider range of dogs is needed to confirm its accuracy.
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Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To determine the relationship between serum cortisol concentration and pain severity as measured by force platform gait analysis in dogs with experimentally induced synovitis of the stifle joint. ANIMALS: 10 healthy hound-type dogs. PROCEDURES: Dogs underwent 2 study phases. In the first phase, serum cortisol concentration, systolic arterial blood pressure, heart rate, and gait data were obtained at 0 (first sample), 2.5, 5, 7.5, and 10 hours. In the second phase, the same data were gathered immediately before (0 hours) and 2.5, 5, 7.5, and 10 hours after induction of acute urate synovitis in the left stifle joint. Data were statistically evaluated to compare changes in variable values over time and to determine the accuracy of serum cortisol measurements for diagnosis of acute orthopedic pain. RESULTS: Following induction of synovitis, ground reaction forces were significantly decreased relative to preinduction values at 2.5, 5.0, 7.5, and 10.0 hours and serum cortisol concentration was significantly increased at 2.5 hours. A cortisol concentration of >or= 1.6 microg/dL indicated pain with a 91% sensitivity and 35% specificity. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: In this model, cortisol concentration may be useful for diagnosing pain in dogs. Although, with a cutoff of >or= 1.6 microg/dL, pain would be detected in most dogs with pain, some pain-free dogs would also be identified as having pain. Conversely, dogs with a serum cortisol of < 1.6 microg/dL would be unlikely to have pain. Validation of this diagnostic test in a large, heterogeneous group of clinical patients is necessary.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20673094/