Pain can either signal the threat of tissue-damage (nociception) or can result from tissue damage itself. The physiology and “pathology” of pain, in the second instance, suggest that it can be diagnosed (not “measured”, “assessed”, etc.) on the basis of its association, but not equality, with tissue damage and by its coincidence with changes in behaviour. Pain will be present as part of a syndrome and cannot occur without cause or association. Pain may occur in experiments:
a) coincidentally and unrelated to any experimental procedure,
b) accidentally, when a procedure goes amiss, and
c) as part of the experimental design.
Where pain is intrinsic to the aims of an experiment (for example in the testing of analgesics), “escape routes” and “limits” must be formulated for the benefit of experimental subjects. In addition, the empirical value of the experiment must be assessed.
There is insufficient information on the use and efficacy of analgesic drugs in animals. These drugs, however, are neither the only nor the most effective means of alleviating physical pain in animals. Other forms of treatment are considered. All depend on sound diagnosis and prognosis. Decisive action against the cause of pain is necessary.
NH & MRC, CSIRO, ACC (1985). Code of Practice for the Care and Use of Animals for Experimental Purposes, 35 pp. Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service.
2.
HallL.W., and ClarkeK.W. (1983). Veterinary Anaesthesia8th edn.432 pp. London: Balliere Tindall.
3.
LumbW.V., and JonesE.W. (1984). Veterinary Anaesthesia2nd edn, 693 pp. Philadelphia: Lea & Febiger.
4.
SomaL.R., ed. (1971). Textbook of Veterinary Anaesthesia, 621 pp. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins.
WesthuesM., and FritschR. (1985). Animal Anaesthesia, Vols. 1 & 2, 1st English edn, 223 pp. & 458 pp. Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd.
7.
MortonD.B., and GriffithsP.H.M. (1985). Guidelines on the recognition of pain, distress and discomfort in experimental animals and an hypothesis for assessment.Veterinary Record116, 431.
8.
WrightE.M., MarcellaK.L., and WoodsonJ.F. (1985). Animal pain—evaluation and control.Laboratory Animals19, 20.
9.
LewisC.S. (1940). The Problem of Pain, 24th impression (1984), 145 pp. Glasgow: William Collins & Sons.
10.
IggoA. (1984). Pain in Animals, 16 pp. Potters Bar: UFAW.
11.
NathanP.W. (1977). Pain.British Medical Bulletin33, 149.
12.
BowsherD.R. (1983). Papers Prepared by Members of the Royal Society's Ethical Working Party on Animal Experiments. pp. 24–28. London: The Royal Society of London.
13.
DennisS.G., and MalzackR. (1983). Perspectives on phylogenetic evolution of pain expression. In Animal Pain: Perception and Alleviation (ed. KitchellR.L., EricksonH.W.), pp. 151–160. Bethesda: American Physiological Society.
14.
FoltzE.L., and WhiteL.E. (1962). Pain “relief by frontal cingulmotomy.Journal of Neurosurgery19, 89.
15.
YoxallA.T. (1978). Pain in small animals—its recognition and control.Journal of Small Animal Practice19, 423.
16.
SpectorW.G. (1980). An Introduction to General Pathology2nd edn, 301 pp. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone.
17.
McMahonS.B. (1984). Spinal mechanisms in somatic pain. In The Neurobiology of Pain (ed. HoldenA.V., WinlowW.), pp. 159–178. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
18.
VierckC.J.Jr. (1976). Extrapolation from the pain research literature to problems for adequate veterinary care.Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association168, 510.
19.
RexM.A.E. (1976). Pain is What the Patient Says Hurts, inaugural lecture delivered at the University of Queensland on 25 September 1975.Brisbane: University of Queensland Press.
20.
EwbankR. (1985). The behavioural needs of farm and laboratory animals. In Animal Experimentation: Improvements and Alternatives (ed. MarshN., HaywoodS.), pp. 31–33. Nottingham: FRAME.
21.
HumeC.W. (1962). How to befriend laboratory animals. In Man and Beast, reprinted 1986, 222 pp. Potters Bar: UFAW.
22.
RussellW.M.S., and BurchR.L. (1959). Principles of Humane Experimental Technique, 238 pp. London: Methuen.
23.
ZimmermanM. (1986). Ethical considerations in relation to pain in animal experimentation. In Biomedical Research Involving Animals (ed. BankowskiZ., & Howard-JonesN.), p. 132. Geneva: Council for International Organisations of Medical Sciences.
24.
SomaL.R. (1984). Analgesic management of the experimental animal. In National Symposium on Imperatives in Research Animal Use: Scientific Needs and Animal Welfare, NIH Publication No. 85-2746, p. 283. Bethesda: National Institutes of Health.
25.
OrlansF.B. (1986). Classification of system for degree of animal harm.Scandinavian Journal of Laboratory Animal Science13, 93.
26.
KirkR.W., and BistnerS.I. (1975). Handbook of Veterinary Procedures and Emergency Treatment2nd edn, 716 pp. Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders.
27.
SanfordJ., EwbankR., MolonyV., TavernorW.D., and UvarovO. (1986). Guidelines for the recognition and assessment of pain in animals, prepared by a working party of the Association of Veterinary Teachers and Research Workers.Veterinary Record118, 334.
28.
YoxallA.T. (1979). Pain and inflammation: analgesic and anti-inflammatory agents. In Pharmacological Basis of Small Animal Medicine (ed. YoxallA.T., HirdJ.F.R.), pp. 119–137. Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publications.
29.
FlecknellP.A. (1984). The relief of pain in laboratory animals.Laboratory Animals18, 147.
30.
LumbW.V., PippiN.L., and KalpravidhM. (1983). Evaluation of analgesic drugs in horses. In Animal Pain: Perception and Alleviation (ed. KitchellR.L., EricksonH.W.), pp. 179–206. Bethesda: American Physiological Society.
31.
HughesH.C., and LangCM. (1983). Control of pain in dogs and cats. In Animal Pain: Perception and Alleviation (ed. KitchellR.L., EricksonH.W.), pp. 207–216. Bethesda: American Physiological Society.
32.
DavisK.L. (1983). Species differences in drug disposition as factors in alleviation of pain. In Animal Pain: Perception and Alleviation (ed. KitchellR.L., EricksonH.W.), pp. 161–178. Bethesda: American Physiological Society.
33.
NolanA., LivingstonA., MorrisR., and WatermanA. (1987). Techniques for comparison of thermal and mechanical nociceptive stimuli in the sheep.Journal of Pharmacological Methods17, 39–49.
34.
RawlinsonW.A.L. (1984). Peripheral nerve block and the relief of pain. In The Neurobiology of Pain (ed. HoldenA.V., WinlowW.), pp. 159–178. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
35.
MelzackR., and WallP.D. (1982). The Challenge of Pain, 447 pp. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
36.
CaddenS.W., VillanuevaL., & Le BarsD. (1984). Modulation of dorsal born neuronal activity by heterotopic noxious stimuli. In The Neurobiology of Pain (ed. HoldenA.V., WinlowW.), pp. 179–187. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
