Performance Validation and Method Comparison of an In-Clinic Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay for the Detection of Canine Pancreatic Lipase

Diagnosis of pancreatitis is often difficult in dogs that present with acute vomiting, anorexia, and abdominal pain, as these clinical signs may occur with a variety of other illnesses. While quantitative reference laboratory methods specific for canine pancreatic lipase are available to aid in diagnosis, results are generally not available until the next day. The objective of the current study was to validate a semiquantitative in-clinic rapid test for the measurement of canine pancreas–specific lipase (cPL) and to compare its performance to the reference lab method. Comparison of the reference method for cPL to the in-clinic assay demonstrated 96–100% agreement for canine serum samples with normal levels of cPL and 88–92% agreement for samples with elevated levels of cPL. Common interfering substances such as bilirubin, lipids, or hemoglobin had no effect on assay performance. Both within-day and day-to-day variations ranged from 10% to 20% of the calculated cPL concentration, which demonstrated a high ...