Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals - Office of ...

VETERINARy CARE 121(all), anorexia (all), rapid or labored respiration (rodents, birds, fish),lack of grooming (mammals and birds), increased aggression (mammalsand birds), periocular and nasal porphyrin discharge (rodents), abnormalappearance or posture (all), and immobility (all) (NRC 2008, 2009a).However, some species may mask signs of pain until they are quite severe(NRC 2009a). It is therefore essential that personnel caring for and usinganimals be trained in species-specific and individual clinical, behavioral,physiologic, and biochemical indicators of well-being (Dubner 1987;Karas 2002; Murrell and Johnson 2006; Rose 2002; Stoskopf 1994; Valverdeand Gunkel 2005).Distress may be defined as an aversive state in which an animal fails tocope or adjust to various stressors with which it is presented. But distressmay not induce an immediate and observable pathologic or behavioralalteration, making it difficult to monitor and evaluate the animal’s statewhen it is present. Both the duration and intensity of the state are importantconsiderations when trying to prioritize attention to and treatment of animaldistress. For example, an injection requiring brief immobilization mayproduce acute stress lasting only seconds, while long-term individual housingof a social species in a metabolic cage may produce chronic distress.Implementation of clear, appropriate, and humane experimental endpointsfor animals, combined with close observation during invasive periods ofexperimentation, will assist in minimizing distress experienced by animalsused in research, teaching, testing, and production. Recognition and Alle-iation of distress in Laboratory Animals (NRC 2008) is a resource withimportant information about distress in experimental animals.ANESTHESIA AND ANALGESIAThe selection of appropriate analgesics and anesthetics should reflectprofessional veterinary judgment as to which best meets clinical andhumane requirements as well as the needs of the research protocol. Theselection depends on many factors, such as the species, age, and strain orstock of the animal, the type and degree of pain, the likely effects of particularagents on specific organ systems, the nature and length of the surgicalor pain-inducing procedure, and the safety of the agent, particularly if aphysiologic deficit is induced by a surgical or other experimental procedure(Kona-Boun et al. 2005).Preemptive analgesia (the administration of preoperative and intraoperativeanalgesia) enhances intraoperative patient stability and optimizespostoperative care and well-being by reducing postoperative pain (Coderreet al. 1993; Hedenqvist et al. 2000). Analgesia may be achieved throughtimely enteral or parenteral administration of analgesic agents as well as byblocking nociceptive signaling via local anesthetics (e.g., bupivacaine).