CONDUCT OF CLINICAL-TRIALS IN PIGS - DESIGN AND INTERPRETATION

Practical and theoretical constraints influence the design, the running and the interpretation Of clinical trials in pigs. Some of these constraints are discussed in this article. It is necessary to define precisely: the aim of the study and the choice of criteria for jugement and interpretation, the allotment and randomisation techniques used, the need to respect the blind procedure, the number of animals to be included in the study, the practicality of running the study in the field and the use of an appropriate statistical analysis. Even if the application of these constraints and principles cannot always be verified in detail by reading the trial report, it is very often possible to form an opinion on the validity of the reported results by checking some key aspects of the study and by keeping a critical mind.