Clinical Management of Pain in Rodents

Dear Editors,

I would like to address what appears to be a significant omission regarding the use of ketoprofen for pain management in rat described in the article entitled “Clinical Management of Pain in Rodents” published in the December 2019 issue of Comparative Medicine.² Table 13, labeled “Updated analgesic dosing recommendations” was modified from a table included in an article written by Paul Flecknell.¹ This table includes the use of ketoprofen for rat at a dose of 5 mg/kg, SC, Q24. The Flecknell article also cites the study by Shientag and colleagues,³ which found that a single 5 mg/kg of ketoprofen, administered SC, resulted in significant gastrointestinal toxicity in rat including bleeding, erosions and ulcers. By omitting a description or discussion of the Shientag report, readers may not be fully informed as to the risk involved using ketoprofen in rat. This omission should be addressed, since the Foley and colleagues article will likely be widely accessed for information regarding medical management of pain in rodents.