Comparative effect of diclofenac sodium and dexamethasone on incisional wound healing in dogs

The study was carried out to compare and evaluate the effect of diclofenac sodium, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) and dexamethasone, a steroidal, anti-inflammatory drug onincisional wound healing in dogs. Fifteen (15) clinically healthy, mixed sex, intact Nigerian local dogs free of dermatological lesionwith mean age of 14.97±3.7 months (Mean ± SD) and mean body weight of 10.73± 2.6kg (Mean ± SD) were used for the study. Thedogs were randomly divided into three treatment groups: A, B and C comprising of five dogs per group. A caudal mid-ventral laparotomyskin incision was made to create surgical wounds. Immediately after anesthetic recovery, 7.5% diclofenac sodium injectionintramuscularly at standard clinical therapeutic dose rate of 2.5mgkg-1 was administered to group A for three day, 2.5% dexamethasone injection intramuscularly at standard clinical therapeutic dose rate of 0.25mg kg-1 was administered to the group B for three days. Group C were not treated with any anti-inflammatory medication.Subjectively, diclofenac sodium group shows shorter healing interval compare to dexamethasone group (P<0.05). Objective histological evaluation at day 7 and 14 revealed low inflammatory density in group B compared to A and C, fibroblast, collagen fibers, and surface keratinization was higher in group A at day 7 and 14 post surgery compared to B and C suggestive of faster healing in diclofenac sodium group compare to dexamethasone group. There was statistical significant different (P<0.05) among the groups. It is concluded that diclofenac sodium when used as an anti inflammatory agent post operative does not interfere with surgical wound healing.

Comparative effect of diclofenac sodium and dexamethasone on incisional wound healing in dogs Keywords:

Dexamethasone , Diclofenac sodium , Incisional wound , Histopathology , Healing interval