Veterinary Clinical Research Research Articles

Opportunities for clinical research in primary-care practice

A HIGH proportion of published veterinary clinical research involves patients evaluated at specialist, multidiscipline university hospitals, in part because veterinarians in academia often have the time, expertise and support to...

Nature and governance of veterinary clinical research conducted in the UK

In order to quantify the amount of clinical research conducted on client-owned animals under the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966, and the nature and extent of any ethical review of that...

A "Light Meal" Three Hours Preoperatively Decreases the Incidence of Gastro-Esophageal Reflux in Dogs.

Emerging evidence from veterinary and medical clinical research shows that reducing preoperative fasting time may reduce the incidence of gastro-esophageal reflux (GER) intraoperatively. In order to evaluate the effect of two different preoperative fasting times on the incidence of GER during general anesthesia, 120 dogs were randomly assigned to two groups: administration of canned food 3 h before premedication (group C3, n = 60) and administration of canned food 10 h before premedication (group C10, n = 60). The animals were premedicated with propionyl-promazine. Anesthesia was induced with thiopental sodium and maintained with halothane. A pH electrode was introduced into the esophagus, and the esophageal pH was constantly monitored. Esophageal pH of less than 4 or greater than 7.5 was taken as an indication of GER. Three of the 60 dogs of group C3 and 12 of the 60 dogs of group C10 experienced a GER episode, the difference being statistically significant (P = .025). Feeding the dog 3 h before anesthesia at a half daily rate reduces significantly the incidence of GER during anesthesia, compared to the administration of the same amount and type of food 10 h before anesthesia. The administration of a half daily dose of an ordinary canine diet may be useful in clinical practice.

Building practice-based research in the UK

IN recent years, the opportunities from veterinary research that uses electronic patient record (EPR) data have been increasingly recognised and, especially in the UK, application of these methods is now...

International Combined Orthopaedic Research Societies: A model for international collaboration to promote orthopaedic and musculoskeletal research

Summary In October 2013, the International Combined Orthopaedic Research Societies (ICORS; http://i-cors.org ) was founded with inaugural member organisations from the previous Combined Orthopaedic Research Society, which had sponsored combined meetings for more than 2 decades. The ICORS is dedicated to the stimulation of orthopaedic and musculoskeletal research in fields such as biomedical engineering, biology, chemistry, and veterinary and human clinical research. The ICORS seeks to facilitate communication with member organisations to enhance international research collaborations and to promote the development of new international orthopaedic and musculoskeletal research organisations. Through new categories of membership, the ICORS represents the broadest coalition of orthopaedic research organisations globally.

Veterinary clinical research – legal, ethical and welfare considerations

Veterinary clinical research – legal, ethical and welfare considerations

Veterinary Clinical Research Database for Homeopathy: Placebo-controlled trials

Veterinary homeopathy has led a somewhat shadowy existence since its first introduction. Only in the last three decades has the number of clinical trials increased considerably. This literature is generally not well perceived, which may be partly a consequence of the diffuse and somewhat inaccessible nature of some of the relevant research publications. The Veterinary Clinical Research Database for Homeopathy (VetCR) was launched in 2006 to provide information on existing clinical research in veterinary homeopathy and to facilitate the preparation of systematic reviews. The aim of the present report is to provide an overview of this first database on clinical research in veterinary homeopathy, with a special focus on its content of placebo controlled clinical trials and summarising what is known about placebo effects in animals. In April 2012, the VetCR database contained 302 data records. Among these, 203 controlled trials were identified: 146 randomised and 57 non-randomised. In 97 of those 203 trials, the homeopathic medical intervention was compared to placebo. A program of formal systematic reviews of peer-reviewed randomised controlled trials in veterinary homeopathy is now underway; detailed findings from the program's data extraction and appraisal approach, including the assessment of trial quality (risk of bias), will be reported in due course.

Measurement of intra‐abdominal pressure in dogs and cats

To review and summarize the human and veterinary literature on intra-abdominal pressure measurement techniques. Human and veterinary clinical studies, research articles, reviews, and textbooks with no date restrictions with a focus on techniques for intra-abdominal pressure (IAP) measurement and their limitations. Human literature has established the intravesicular method as the gold standard for indirect measurement of IAP. However, current research has explored the intragastric method as a valid alternative. Recently, debate has focused on the shortcomings of the various measurement methods. Early human literature using dogs as models contributed to the original data for IAP measurements in small animals. Since that time, a number of clinical studies and 1 case report have contributed to that original information. A reference interval for IAP measured by the intravesicular method has recently been determined in healthy cats. Further studies investigating IAP in critically ill veterinary patients are required to establish the optimal technique for this measurement in veterinary medicine.

Randomised controlled trials of veterinary homeopathy: Characterising the peer-reviewed research literature for systematic review

Systematic review of the research evidence in veterinary homeopathy has never previously been carried out. This paper presents the search methods, together with categorised lists of retrieved records, that enable us to identify the literature that is acceptable for future systematic review of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) in veterinary homeopathy. All randomised and controlled trials of homeopathic intervention (prophylaxis and/or treatment of disease, in any species except man) were appraised according to pre-specified criteria. The following databases were systematically searched from their inception up to and including March 2011: AMED; Carstens-Stiftung Homeopathic Veterinary Clinical Research (HomVetCR) database; CINAHL; Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials; Embase; Hom-Inform; LILACS; PubMed; Science Citation Index; Scopus. One hundred and fifty records were retrieved; 38 satisfied the acceptance criteria (substantive report of a clinical treatment or prophylaxis trial in veterinary homeopathic medicine randomised and controlled and published in a peer-reviewed journal), and were thus eligible for future planned systematic review. Approximately half of the rejected records were theses. Seven species and 27 different species-specific medical conditions were represented in the 38 papers. Similar numbers of papers reported trials of treatment and prophylaxis (n=21 and n=17 respectively) and were controlled against placebo or other than placebo (n=18, n=20 respectively). Most research focused on non-individualised homeopathy (n=35 papers) compared with individualised homeopathy (n=3). The results provide a complete and clarified view of the RCT literature in veterinary homeopathy. We will systematically review the 38 substantive peer-reviewed journal articles under the main headings: treatment trials; prophylaxis trials.

Understanding and Evaluating Veterinary Clinical Research

Results from investigations conducted in clinical settings contribute greatly to determining how veterinarians practice medicine. It is important for the practitioner to understand how clinical information is collected, analyzed, and communicated in journals and presentations at conferences. Clinical research is either retrospective in observational studies, looking at historical medical records as the source of data, or prospective in both experimental and observational studies, where the study is designed before any patients are included. Prospective, experimental studies provide the more reliable results, although they form a minority of published reports. Randomized, controlled trials are the most reliable format, and attempts should be made to use this design more often in veterinary medicine. Care must be taken in the conduct of clinical research to reduce sources of bias that can yield false findings, particularly in small, retrospective studies. Statistical analysis is the key to data interpretation, but must be applied appropriately to avoid either wrong assumptions or misconception. Regardless of how studies are conducted, it is important for the practitioner to be an astute reader of the clinical literature. An understanding of clinical research methods will result in better medical standard of care recommendations and practice.

Quantitative determination of exo- and endo-iohexol in canine and feline samples using high performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection

A sensitive and specific high performance liquid chromatography–ultraviolet detection (HPLC–UV) method for quantitative determination of exo- and endo-iohexol in cat and dog serum/plasma is presented. Sample preparation consisted of a protein precipitation step performed by adding 15 μL of trifluoroacetic acid to 100 μL of serum/plasma. Following vortexing and centrifugation, an aliquot of the supernatant was injected onto a polymeric PLRP-S column (250 mm × 4.6 mm i.d., dp: 8 μm, 100 Å), maintained at 30 °C. The mobile phase consisted of water (A) and methanol (B) and a gradient elution (flow-rate: 1.0 mL min −1, total run-time: 21 min). The UV detector was set at a wavelength of 254 nm. Matrix-matched calibration graphs were prepared for both exo- (0.44–657 μg mL −1) and endo-iohexol (0.62–93.0 μg mL −1). Correlation and goodness-of-fit coefficients were between 0.9985–0.9999 and 4.44–9.87%, respectively. Limits of quantification and detection were 0.44 and 0.15 μg mL −1 for exo-iohexol and 0.62 and 0.20 μg mL −1 for endo-iohexol, respectively. Results for within-day and between-day precision and accuracy fell within the ranges specified. The reported method is simple and cost-effective. It has been successfully used for the analysis of exo- and endo-iohexol in serum/plasma samples of cats and dogs as part of pharmacokinetic studies with iohexol in order to determine plasma clearance of exo- and endo-iohexol. This indicates the usefulness of the developed method for application in the field of veterinary clinical practice and research.

Database on veterinary clinical research in homeopathy

The aim of the present report is to provide an overview of the first database on clinical research in veterinary homeopathy. Detailed searches in the database 'Veterinary Clinical Research-Database in Homeopathy' (http://www.carstens-stiftung.de/clinresvet/index.php). The database contains about 200 entries of randomised clinical trials, non-randomised clinical trials, observational studies, drug provings, case reports and case series. Twenty-two clinical fields are covered and eight different groups of species are included. The database is free of charge and open to all interested veterinarians and researchers. The database enables researchers and veterinarians, sceptics and supporters to get a quick overview of the status of veterinary clinical research in homeopathy and alleviates the preparation of systematical reviews or may stimulate reproductions or even new studies.

Handbook of Veterinary Clinical Research

Veterinary DermatologyVolume 20, Issue 4 p. 305-305 Handbook of Veterinary Clinical Research Ian Mason, Ian MasonSearch for more papers by this author Ian Mason, Ian MasonSearch for more papers by this author First published: 20 July 2009 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3164.2009.00747.xRead the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume20, Issue4August 2009Pages 305-305 RelatedInformation

Handbook of Veterinary Pain Management (2nd edition); Pathology of Laboratory Rodents and Rabbits (3rd edition); Handbook of Veterinary Clinical Research

"Handbook of Veterinary Pain Management (2nd edition); Pathology of Laboratory Rodents and Rabbits (3rd edition); Handbook of Veterinary Clinical Research" published on 01 Jul 2008 by American Veterinary Medical Association.

The utility of Bayes' theorem and Bayesian inference in veterinary clinical practice and research.

The utility of Bayes' theorem and Bayesian inference in veterinary clinical practice and research.

98. Application of equivalence tests to veterinary clinical research

98. Application of equivalence tests to veterinary clinical research

Clinical trial design: veterinary perspectives.

Tremendous potential exists for the use of the randomized clinical trial (RCT) in veterinary clinical research. Understanding the fundamentals of RCT design not only benefits clinical researchers, but it can enhance the ability of practitioners to interpret published RCT reports. In this article, the essential components of RCT design and implementation are described using examples from clinical veterinary medicine.