Figure 4

Time development of the analgesic effect after an oral administration of cimicoxib at 2 mg/kg vs. placebo administration in 8 extensive metabolizer dogs. Pain was assessed using a hind paw thermal escape model in control conditions (no inflammation) and after a kaolin injection in the paw. The paw withdrawal time was measured in seconds and expressed as a percentage; 100% is the control value without inflammation and 0% (at time 0) is the control value after induction of inflammation. Visual inspection of the figure shows that cimicoxib can develop an analgesia that is higher than 100% i.e. that under cimicoxib, the withdrawal time of the inflamed paw was longer than in control condition without inflammation. This suggests that the analgesic effect of cimicoxib is not only due to its anti-inflammatory effect but also to an intrinsic analgesic property.