The assessment and management of pain in humans and animals has generated unprecedented
discussion in the last 20 years. In the veterinary field, heightened awareness to pain has prompted
several professional organizations to make formal position statements, which unequivocally mandate
pain relief (McMillan, 2003). Regulatory bodies primarily concerned with the use of animals... + Leer más
The assessment and management of pain in humans and animals has generated unprecedented
discussion in the last 20 years. In the veterinary field, heightened awareness to pain has prompted
several professional organizations to make formal position statements, which unequivocally mandate
pain relief (McMillan, 2003). Regulatory bodies primarily concerned with the use of animals in
biomedical research and teaching have also had an increased interest in pain and on July 10, 2003 the
USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) published a Federal Register notice calling
for comments on the definition and reporting of pain and distress in animals under the Animal Welfare
Act. While there is much discussion on the continuum of stress, distress and pain in animals, there is
little agreement on the difficulty of delineating crossover points for these apparently overlapping
sensations. In addition, there is no agreed objective measure, which can be used to reliably identify
pain in animals and its severity. Further and more difficult, is the assessment of different types of
pain. For example, while there is an intuitive predilection to consider “real” pain as physical pain,
several studies suggest psychological distress can also adversely affect animal welfare (McMillan,
2003).
Semantics aside, it is generally agreed that pain adversely impacts the welfare of animals and that in
research protocols, pain, if not controlled, is a variable, which can confound the interpretation of
experimental results. A position statement of the American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine
(ACLAM) declares that “Procedures expected to cause more than slight or momentary pain (e.g., pain
in excess of a needle prick or injection) require the appropriate use of pain-relieving measures unless
scientifically justified in an approved animal care and use
protocol.”(http://www.aclam.org/pub_pain_distress.html).
The responsibility to relieve pain in animals used in research is consistent with the generally accepted
view of the moral responsibility of humans towards animals; with the opinion of the public, whose
support for the use of animals in research declines as the pain experienced by these animals increases
(Institute for Laboratory Animal Research, 2000); with relevant legislation (AWA, PHS) and with the
goals of scientific research.
This paper presents an overview of current concepts of pain and provides recommendations for the
assessment, prevention and treatment of pain in rodents and rabbits. Also provided are guidelines for
developing pain management protocols, tables describing the potential physiologic effects of some
analgesic classes and examples of efficacious analgesic strategies.
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