Analgesic effect of meloxicam 251 clipped, cleaned and treated with a drying solu- tion and possibly antibiotic cream or ointment (Scott et al. 2000, Reinke et al. 1987, Harvey, McKeever 2000). Pyotraumatic folliculitis is a superﬁcial ulcera- tion in the dermis, which also includes a deep suppurative and necrotizing folliculitis and oc- casional furunculosis. These types of lesions, true local pyodermas, have been described as thickened with surrounding papules and pus- tules. Treatment includes systemic antibiotics. The use of glucocorticoids is contraindicated due to possible immunosuppressive effect (Scott et al. 2000). What appears to be a superﬁcial process (i.e. pyotraumatic dermatitis, acute moist dermati- tis) in clinical terms, could actually be a deep process (i.e. pyotraumatic folliculitis). Al- though the area is clipped and palpated, the 2 types are sometimes confused. In this study, the respective diagnoses for pyotraumatic dermati- tis and pyotraumatic folliculitis were based on the clinical appearance of the skin lesions, and the 2 diagnoses were evenly distributed be- tween the 2 groups. The diagnosis was not con- ﬁrmed histologically as histological conﬁrma- tion of the diagnosis was considered less important in these cases. The primary task was to assess the analgesic effect. Regardless of whether a dermatitis is superﬁ- cial or deep, the process can cause considerable pain and discomfort. In the present study, the dogs' reactions to palpation of the inﬂamed area were used to score pain. A study assessing post- operative pain in dogs showed that behavioural response (response to palpation, activity, men- tal status, posture and vocalisation) and physio- logical measurements can be used reliably to assess degree of pain and response to anal- gesics (Firth & Haldane 1999). If meloxicam could be used as a complement to antibiotics in the treatment of pyotraumatic fol- liculitis, relief might be achieved in a shorter time compared to the use of antibiotics alone. No signs of impaired healing were seen in this study. Reports have been published on the sub- ject of NSAID and impaired healing of bone tissue in rats, humans and horses (Bo et al. 1976, Giannoudis et al. 2000, Rohde et al. 2000). The question of whether NSAID impair wound healing in skin is controversial and re- ports contradict each other. NSAID topically applied on dermal and epidermal wounds in pigs markedly reduced inﬂammation but did not inﬂuence the healing process (Alvarez et al. 1984). On the other hand, diclofenac and in- domethacin have been shown to inﬂuence the healing of normal and ischaemic incisional wounds in rat skin. However, in certain doses the drugs improved the healing of normal wounds. The healing of ischaemic wounds, us- ing a ﬂap model, was unaffected after 10 days but decreased after 20 days (Quirinia & Viidik 1997). Other studies considered the effects of meloxi- cam, previously named miloxicam, on cuta- neous tissue in other species. The effects of meloxicam on acute inﬂammation in 6 ponies were assessed. Exudate leukocyte numbers were signiﬁcantly reduced in drug-treated ponies, as were exudate concentrations of prostaglandin E and F (Lees et al. 1991). The anti-exudative effect of meloxicam on sub- plantar induced oedema exceeded that of pirox- icam, diclofenac, indomethacin and naproxen in a comparative study (Engelhardt et al. 1995). In addition, meloxicam showed greatest po- tency when comparing inhibition of granuloma formation induced by cotton pellets implanted into the subcutaneous space in rats. This study shows that meloxicam seems to of- fer an analgesic effect during the processes in- volved in acute dermatitis in dogs. Further stud- ies are needed on the use of meloxicam, as well as other NSAID, in treating dermatitis in the ca- nine dermis. Acta vet. scand. vol. 43 no. 4, 2002