A scale with robust statistical validation is essential to diagnose pain and improve decision making for analgesia. This blind, randomised, prospective and opportunist study aimed to develop an ethogram to evaluate behaviour and validate a scale to assess acute ovine postoperative pain. Elective laparoscopy was performed in 48 healthy sheep, filmed at one preoperative and three postoperative moments, before and after rescue analgesia and 24 hours after. The videos were randomised and assessed twice by four evaluators, with a one-month interval between evaluations. Statistical analysis was performed using R software and differences were considered significant when p <0.05. Based on the multiple association, a unidimensional scale was adopted. The intra-and inter-observer reliability ranged from moderate to very good (intraclass correlation coefficient � 0.53). The scale presented Spearman correlations > 0.80 with the numerical, simple descriptive, and visual analogue scales, and a correlation of 0.48 with the facial expression scale. According to the mixed linear model, the scale was responsive, due to the increase and decrease in pain scores of all items after surgery and analgesic intervention, respectively. All items on the scale demonstrated an acceptable Spearman item-total correlation (0.56-0.76), except for appetite (0.25). The internal consistency was excellent (Cronbach's α = 0.81) and all items presented specificity > 0.72 and sensitivity between 0.61-0.90, except for appetite. According to the Youden index, the cutoff point was � 4 out of 12, with a diagnostic uncertainty zone of 4 to 5. The area under the curve > 0.95 demonstrated the excellent discriminatory capacity of the instrument. In conclusion, the Unesp-Botucatu pain scale in sheep submitted to laparoscopy is valid, reliable, specific, sensitive, with excellent internal consistency, accuracy, discriminatory capacity, and a defined cutoff point.

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Recently, the Unesp-Botucatu sheep acute pain scale (USAPS) was created, refined, and psychometrically validated as a tool that offers fast, robust, and simple application. Evidence points to an improvement in pain diagnosis when the importance of the behavioral items of an instrument is statistically weighted; however, this has not yet been investigated in animals. The objective was to investigate whether the implementation of statistical weightings using machine learning algorithms improves the USAPS discriminatory capacity. A behavioral database, previously collected for USAPS validation, of 48 sheep in the perioperative period of laparoscopy was used. A multilevel binomial logistic regression algorithm and a random forest algorithm were used to determine the statistical weights and classify the sheep as to whether they needed analgesia or not. The quality of the classification, estimated by the area under the curve (AUC) and its 95% confidence interval (CI), was compared between the USAPS versions. The USAPS AUCs weighted by multilevel binomial logistic regression (96.59 CI: [95.02–98.15]; p = 0.0004) and random forest algorithms (96.28 CI: [94.17–97.85]; p = 0.0067) were higher than the original USAPS AUC (94.87 CI: [92.94–96.80]). We conclude that the implementation of statistical weights by the two machine learning algorithms improved the USAPS discriminatory ability.

Aquapuncture (AqP) consists of a water or saline solution injection into acupoints. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of aquapuncture on post-operative analgesia in bitches submitted to elective ovariohysterectomy (OHE). The study was prospective, randomised, and blinded for pain assessment. Sixteen dogs were randomly distributed in two groups of eight animals each. All animals were sedated with 0.05 mg kg -1 of acepromazine intramuscularly (IM), 30 minutes prior to induction of anaesthesia with propofol and maintenance with isoflurane. Eight animals underwent bilateral acupoint injection with 0.1 ml of 0.9% saline (AqP) at Gall Bladder 34, Stomach 36, Liver 3 and Spleen 6 acupoints 15 minutes after sedation. Pain score was investigated after 0.5, 1, 2, 5, 8 and 24 hours post-operatively and was compared with a control untreated group of eight animals. Morphine, at 0.5 mg kg -1 IM, was administered when the numerical rating scale was above 33% of the maximum value, in order to control post-operative pain in both groups. There were no differences in cardiorespiratory variables and pain and sedation scores between the groups. Seven (87.5%) animals from the control group required rescue analgesia at the first two postoperative hours and five (62.5%) animals treated with AqP required rescue analgesia, however, only one (12.5%) animal was treated at the first two hours and the remaining animals were treated from 5 hours after surgery. Aquapuncture produced residual analgesia up to 5 h after surgery and may be an option for post-operative analgesia in bitches undergoing OHE, providing that pain is assessed and rescue analgesia administered if necessary. Key words: Acupuncture, pain, surgery, morphine ResumoA aquapuntura (AqP) é uma técnica que consiste na injeção de solução fisiológica ou água destilada em pontos de acupuntura. Este estudo teve como objetivo avaliar o efeito da AqP na analgesia pós- operatória em cadelas submetidas à ovariohisterectomia eletiva (OHE). O estudo foi prospectivo, aleatório e "cego" para avaliação da dor. Dezesseis cadelas foram distribuídas aleatoriamente em dois grupos de oito animais cada. Todos os animais foram sedados com 0.05 mg kg -1 de acepromazina por via intramuscular (IM), 30 minutos antes da indução à anestesia com propofol e manutenção com isoflurano. Oito animais foram submetidos à injeção bilateral com 0,1 mL de solução salina 0,9% (AqP) nos acupontos Vesícula Biliar 34, Estômago 36, Fígado 3 e Baço 6, 15 minutos após a sedação. A dor foi avaliada 0,5, 1, 2, 5, 8 e 24 horas após a cirurgia e comparada com um grupo controle não tratado, de oito animais. O resgaste analgésico foi realizado com 0,5 mg kg -1 de morfina IM quando o escore de dor foi superior a 33% do valor máximo em ambos os grupos. Não houve diferenças nas variáveis cardiorrespiratórias e escores de dor e de sedação entre os grupos. Sete (87,5%) animais do grupo controle necessitaram analgesia de resgate nas duas primeiras horas de pós-operatório e cinco (62,5%) animais tratados com AqP necessitar...

ResumoEste estudo retrospectivo avaliou 181 cães com doenças neurológicas e osteomusculares atendidos em um serviço de reabilitação e dor crônica, durante o período de 2013 a 2015. Objetivou-se caracterizar o perfil epidemiológico e clínico dos animais e analisar a eficácia da acupuntura (AP) e terapias afins e respectiva evolução clínica. O diagnóstico baseou-se no exame físico, neurológico, ortopédico e de imagem. As afecções mais prevalentes foram as do sistema nervoso central, sobretudo doença do disco toracolombar e traumas vertebromedulares agudos. Nas enfermidades neurológicas, o tratamento foi considerado eficaz quando os pacientes foram capazes de recuperar a deambulação e para as lesões medulares, quando houve melhora clínica do quadro neurológico avaliado por meio de escores. O sucesso obtido nos quatro segmentos medulares foi de 69,5%. Nas enfermidades osteomusculares, 47% dos cães apresentavam lesões no joelho e 44% displasia coxofemoral (DCF). Adotou-se a escala analógica visual (EAV) de locomoção para definir o sucesso do tratamento nestas doenças, que foi de 52,8%. As técnicas que mais se associaram à AP manual foram, por ordem decrescente, a eletroacupuntura, a ozonioterapia e o LASER. O número de sessões de AP foi em média de 7,6±3,5. Conclui-se que a AP e técnicas afins melhoraram o escore de déficit neurológico nas doenças neurológicas avaliadas quando usadas de forma isolada e quando associadas à medicina convencional. Palavras-chave: eletroacupuntura; disco intervertebral; osteoartrose; dor crônica. AbstractThis retrospective study evaluated the clinical outcome of 181 dogs with neurologic and