Assessing the efficacy of ketoprofen and meloxicam when mixed with iron dextran on pain relief following castration in piglets
Project 16-011-Lead researcher: Terri O’Sullivan
Project 16-011
Lead researcher: Terri O’Sullivan
Project funded in 2016 and completed in 2018.
Graduate student: Kristen Reynolds, DVSc, University of Guelph
FINAL REPORT
As of July of 2016, the Canadian Code of Practice for the Handling and Care of Pigs states that pigs are to receive analgesics (pain control medication) to control post-procedural pain. The pain control medications ketoprofen (Anafen®) and meloxicam (Metacam®), are approved for use in pigs in Canada. To accommodate the pain medication requirement while keeping piglet injections to a minimum, some producers are mixing the pain medication and iron dextran dosage into the same syringe. Pharmaceutical drug interactions can occur when multiple drugs are administered (mixed) together in the same delivery system i.e. bottle, or syringe, with the result being a reduced availability of one drug due to the presence of the second (an interaction). The purpose of this study is to determine if there are differences in the bioavailability (how much of the drug reaches the bloodstream and how long it takes) between ketoprofen used alone compared to ketoprofen mixed in the same bottle as iron dextran prior to intramuscular injection into the piglet. In addition the researcher is testing if there are differences in the level of analgesia (pain relief) in castrated piglets administered either: ketoprofen or meloxicam alone, or either drug mixed with iron dextran prior to intramuscular injection into the piglet.
The live-scan and chute navigation behavior trials designed to subsequently evaluate the efficacy of ketoprofen and meloxicam (when mixed individually) in ID suggests that analgesia provided by the compounded formulations, when administered by intramuscular (IM) injection 1hr prior to castration, were not different than that provided by the NSAIDs administered alone to the piglets. Under the conditions of this study, these results have provided the swine industry with the scientific data necessary to substantiate that the practice of mixing ketoprofen or meloxicam in ID, given by IM injection 1hr prior to castration, provides sufficient analgesia for piglets. However, should this practice of compounding these NSAIDs in ID continue, it is prudent that the swine industry evaluate any potential food safety concerns associated with compounding NSAIDs and ID (i.e. the potential for violative NSAID tissue residues).
The live-scan and chute navigation behavior trials designed to subsequently evaluate the efficacy of ketoprofen and meloxicam (when mixed individually) in ID suggests that analgesia provided by the compounded formulations, when administered by intramuscular (IM) injection 1hr prior to castration, were not different than that provided by the NSAIDs administered alone to the piglets. Under the conditions of this study, these results have provided the swine industry with the scientific data necessary to substantiate that the practice of mixing ketoprofen or meloxicam in ID, given by IM injection 1hr prior to castration, provides sufficient analgesia for piglets. However, should this practice of compounding these NSAIDs in ID continue, it is prudent that the swine industry evaluate any potential food safety concerns associated with compounding NSAIDs and ID (i.e. the potential for violative NSAID tissue residues).
Resources:
https://www.uoguelph.ca/osrn/sites/uoguelph.ca.osrn/files/public/Proceedings_website.pdf
https://crwad.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/CRWAD-2017-Author-Index-and-Abstracts.pdf
Reynolds, R., Johnson, R., Enouri, S., Friendship, B., Brown, J., Gehring, R., O’Sullivan, T.L., 2017
Assessing the efficacy of ketoprofen and meloxicam when mixed with iron dextran on pain
relief following castration in piglets. 2017 Proc. OASV Fall Conference (Oral – no page number)
Reynolds, R., Johnson, R., Enouri, S., Friendship, B., Brown, J., Gehring, R., O’Sullivan, T.L., 2017
Bioavailability of ketoprofen when compounded with iron dextran for use in nursing piglets.
Conference of Research Workers in Animal Diseases, Dec 3-5, 2017. Pg 65 A98 (Oral).
Reynolds, R., Johnson, R., Enouri, S., Friendship, B., Brown, J., Gehring, R., O’Sullivan, T.L., 2018.
Pharmacokinetics of ketoprofen in nursing piglets when compounded with iron dextran prior to
injection. Proc. 25th Int Pig Vet Soc Congr., Chongqing, China, June 11-14, 2018. Pg 253 V1-AIV-
057 (Oral).
Reynolds, K., Johnson, R., Friendship, B., Brown, J., O’Sullivan, T.L., 2018
Assessment of the analgesic efficacy of ketoprofen and meloxicam when compounded
with iron dextran and administered to piglets at the time of castration. Proc 15th International
Society for Veterinary Epidemiology Economics (ISVEE), Chiang Mai, Thailand, 2018. Pg 3 (Oral).
National Pork Board Swine Welfare Symposium 2017