Reazione avversa a farmaco, cutanea ed epatica, in un coniglio domestico (Cutaneous and hepatic adverse reactions following drug administration: a case of a pet rabbit).

The present report describes a case of cutaneous and hepatic adverse reactions very likely related to drug administration in a rabbit. A 2 year-old castrated male rabbit with intestinal constipation was examinated. Symptomatic treatment was initiated, consisted of subcutaneous fluid with Ringer’s Lactate, meloxicam and metaclopramide. Two days later the animal developed subcutaneous oedema and a large bullous skin lesion on the abdomen, that rapidly evolved to necrotic lesion. Five days after receiving therapy, the rabbit died. On necropsy, no macroscopic abnormalities were detected, except for the skin lesions and hepatic multifocal white foci. Histopathologically, skin showed full thickness epidermal necrosis, necrotizing destructive mural folliculitis, dermal eosinophilic infiltrate, cell poor vasculitis, whereas liver exhibited multifocal primarily centrilobular and acute hepatic coagulative necrosis, multifocal severe atrophy of hepatocytes, ectatic sinusoids.Pathological findings, together with the time of the onset of clinical signs, were strongly suggestive of adverse drug reaction (ADR). Meloxicam is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) commonly used for the control of the pain in rabbits, for our knowledge, never been associated with ADR in this specie, but recently reported most probably associated with cutaneous manifestation in a dog. Adverse drug reactions may present a wide variability of clinical symptoms and may mimic almost any dermatosis. In these situations an accurate clinical history is necessary to achieve the diagnosis. [...]