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Home / Comparative Medicine, Volume 67, Number 6

Open Access To Treat or Not to Treat: The Effects of Pain on Experimental Parameters

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Authors: Peterson, Norman C 1 ; Nunamaker, Elizabeth A 2 ; Turner, Patricia V 3 ; 

Source: Comparative Medicine, Volume 67, Number 6, December 2017, pp. 469-482(14)

Publisher: American Association for Laboratory Animal Science

A common dilemma faced by all animal bioethics committees arises when exceptions are proposed to the use of analgesics in painful procedures. The committee and researcher must weigh the possible confounding effects of including additional drugs (analgesics) in their treatment regimen against the moral obligation to perform humane research. Often neglected in these considerations are the potential confounding effects of unrelieved pain and consistency with pain-relieving practices in human medicine. In this review, we summarize what is currently known regarding the molecular and physiologic effects of pain and analgesics in common animal models used across several therapeutic areas. This work is intended to help provide guidance and assurance that a comprehensive approach has been taken when contemplating how pain relief will be applied in animal research protocols.

Document Type: Research Article

Affiliations: 1: Veterinary Sciences, MedImmune, Gaithersburg, Maryland;, Email: [email protected] 2: Animal Care Services, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 3: Department of Pathobiology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada

Publication date: 01 December 2017

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  • Comparative Medicine (CM), an international journal of comparative and experimental medicine, is the leading English-language publication in the field and is ranked by the Science Citation Index in the upper third of all scientific journals. The mission of CM is to disseminate high-quality, peer-reviewed information that expands biomedical knowledge and promotes human and animal health through the study of laboratory animal disease, animal models of disease, and basic biologic mechanisms related to disease in people and animals.

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