Canine septic peritonitis: treatment with flunixin meglumine.

The efficacy of treating acute lethal peritonitis with flunixin meglumine was investigated in dogs. Following intraperitoneal administration of Escherichia coli organisms in a sterile fecal suspension, eight dogs were left untreated and eight dogs were treated with flunixin meglumine (2.2 mg/kg) at 15 min and 12 hr. Another eight dogs were treated with flunixin meglumine (2.2 mg/kg) at 15 minutes and 12 hours, and with gentamicin sulfate (2.2 mg/kg) at 15 min, 6 hr, 12 hr, and 18 hr postsepsis. Untreated dogs lived 5-12 hr and rapidly developed fever, hypoglycemia, metabolic acidosis, hypotension, and cardiac dysfunction. Dogs treated with flunixin meglumine had longer survival times (9-24 hr), lower body temperatures, higher stroke indexes, higher mean arterial pressures, and higher blood pH values than untreated dogs. Six of the eight dogs treated with flunixin meglumine and gentamicin sulfate lived 24 hr. Compared to untreated controls, dogs in this group had slower development of hypoglycemia, lower body temperatures, higher stroke volumes, higher mean arterial pressures, and only temporary development of metabolic acidosis.