Effects of Oral Meloxicam and Topical Lidocaine on Pain associated Behaviors of Piglets Undergoing Surgical Castration

On the Road to End Pig Pain: Knowledge and Attitudes of Brazilian Citizens Regarding Castration

“…For many participants in this study, pain control would be a solution for the problem. However, on-farm adoption of pain relief protocols is limited by scientific and technical uncertainties regarding their effectiveness [ 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 ], farmers’ attitudes towards these tools [ 23 , 25 ], and legal restrictions to the use of these drugs by non-veterinarians [ 49 ]. Discussing the issue of castration from an ethical perspective, Palmer et al [ 50 ] argued that, considering that the realistic alternative in pig production is surgical castration, immunocastration appears as the best immediate solution.…”

“…However, any method used must be suitable in the farm context; i.e., it must be easy to perform, not require expensive equipment, and promote significant reduction or elimination of pain, discomfort, and stress for piglets. Studies validating the effectiveness of different pain control protocols have reported mixed results [ 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 ]. Furthermore, handling and recovery associated with anesthesia and analgesia are a source of stress, and drugs used may have temporary nociceptive effects [ 6 , 12 ].…”

Optimal Methods of Documenting Analgesic Efficacy in Neonatal Piglets Undergoing Castration

“…In all cases, however, the authors reported that effects, although castration [44]. Most studies have reported minimal [65,94] Pre-treatment with local anaesthetic or NSAID analgesic has been shown to result in significant differences in certain pain-related behaviour in treated piglets less than 2 weeks of age in some trials, [44,46,55] but not others [25,57,78]. McGlone et al [55] reported that although the changes in behaviour were only minor, piglets castrated without local anaesthetic were observed to display significantly reduced standing, increased lying and reduced nursing behaviours compared to piglets administered lignocaine via injection prior to castration.…”

“…Few medications are specifically approved for this use in piglets, and many must be used off-label under veterinary prescription [3]. General and local anaesthesia may be effective to provide pain relief during the procedure, but not after [22,[23][24][25], and may require specialized equipment or veterinary administration, precluding practicality or commercial viability in many situations. Although some countries allow farmers to administer injectable local anaesthesia, this is not widespread [21].…”

“…On this basis, a range of outcome variables have been used to assess piglet pain during and following castration, and to assess amelioration of pain due to use of local anaesthetics or analgesia. These include; (a) physiological responses during the procedure [22,24,27,28,[33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][64][65][66][67][68][74][75][76][77][78], (b) nociceptive motor responses during the procedure [27,28,31,47,49,50,64,74]; (c) vocal responses during the procedure [22,[24][25][26][27][28]31,46,[50][51]…”