Utilidad de las escalas de expresión facial de dolor en animales de laboratorio

Animals’ facial expressions are widely used as a readout for emotion. Scientific interest in the facial expressions of laboratory animals has centered primarily on negative experiences, such as pain, experienced as a result of scientific research procedures. Recent attempts to standardize evaluation of facial expressions associated with pain in laboratory animals has culminated in the... + Leer más

Animals’ facial expressions are widely used as a readout for emotion. Scientific interest in the facial expressions of laboratory animals has centered primarily on negative experiences, such as pain, experienced as a result of scientific research procedures. Recent attempts to standardize evaluation of facial expressions associated with pain in laboratory animals has culminated in the development of “grimace scales”. The prevention or relief of pain in laboratory animals is a fundamental requirement for in vivo research to satisfy community expectations. However, to date it appears that the grimace scales have not seen widespread implementation as clinical pain assessment techniques in biomedical research. In this review, we discuss some of the barriers to implementation of the scales in clinical laboratory animal medicine, progress made in automation of collection, and suggest avenues for future research.

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Revisión del empleo de las escalas de expresión facial en animales centrada en su uso en el ámbito de investigación y evaluando las causas de su falta de uso generalizado que contrasta con las expectativas creadas. Se discuten las posibles barreras a su uso y las expectativas de procesos automatizados que favorezcan su uso.