Gastric mucosal lesions in dogs with acute intervertebral disc disease: Characterization and effects of omeprazole or misoprostol

We characterized gastric mucosal lesions in dogs with acute degenerative di sc disease treated by surgery and corticosteroid administration. The effect of omeprazole and misoprostol on gastric lesions in these dogs was also ev aluated. Does were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 treatment groups or to the c ontrol group. Treatment consisted of omeprazole at 0.7 mg/kg orally once da ily, or misoprostol at 2 mu g/kg orally 3 times daily. All 3 groups receive d dexamethasone at 2 mg/kg on day 0, prednisolone at 2 mg/kg on day 1, pred nisolone at 1 mg/kg on day 2, and prednisolone at 0.5 mg/kg on all further days (range, 5-6 days). Endoscopic examination was performed on day 0 and 5 -6 days later. Four regions of the stomach were qualitatively scored from 1 to 12 based on the presence of submucosal hemorrhage, erosion, or ulcerati on, with ulceration receiving the highest numerical score. Nineteen of 25 d ogs had gastric mucosal lesions at the beginning of the study. No significa nt difference was found in the gastric lesion score among the 3 groups at t he end of the study. Gastric mucosal lesions were concluded to be common in dogs with acute degenerative disc disease treated with corticosteroids. Ne ither omeprazole nor misoprostol at the doses used was effective in healing or preventing the further development of gastric mucosal lesions.