Postoperative pain behaviours in rabbits following orthopaedic surgery and effect of observer presence.

ABSTRACT: Rabbits are widely used in studies focusing on pain. However, pain is undertreated in this species and one possible factor to explain this is the lack of evaluation methods. The objective of this study was to identify behaviours related to orthopaedic pain in rabbits and to evaluate the influence of the presence of an observer on these behaviours. Twenty-eight rabbits undergoing orthopaedic surgery and filmed 24 hours before surgery, and 1 hour (before rescue analgesia), 4 hours (3 hours after rescue analgesia), and 24 hours post-recovery were observed in the presence and absence of an observer. The frequency and/or duration of behaviours were compared over time and between the presence and absence of the observer using the Friedman and Wilcoxon tests respectively. Data are expressed as me

SUBMITTER: Pinho RH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7580914 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature