The pre-emptive analgesic effect of a cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor in a rat model of acute postoperative pain

Abstract

Summary We examined the pre-emptive analgesic effect of a cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 inhibitor in a rat surgical pain model and characterised the changes in cutaneous COX-2 around a surgical site. Thermal hyperalgesia and mechanical allodynia were tested in the rats for three days after incision and skin tissues were collected for analysis of COX-2. There was decreased expression of cutaneous COX-2 one day after surgical incision. Pre-incision injection of the COX-2 inhibitor significantly inhibited expression of COX-2 and also reduced thermal hyperalgesia (but not mechanical allodynia) compared with the post-incision COX-2-inhibitor injection group, one day after incision. © Anaesthesia © 2012 The Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland.