TY - JOUR
T1 - Retrospective review of anesthetic and analgesic regimens used in animal research proposals
AU - Herrmann, Kathrin
AU - Flecknell, Paul
N1 - Funding Information:
We acknowledge the support of the German Research Foundation and the Open Access Publication Fund of the Freie Universität Berlin. We are very grateful to Thorsten Busse for his help in developing an electronic database for comparing the data. And we are very thankful to the German foundation SET, who financially supported this project. We also thank ZEBET (FK 1329-472) whose travel grant enabled the first author to present the project results at international conferences.
Funding Information:
We acknowledge the support of the German Research Foundation and the Open Access Publication Fund of the Freie Univer-sität Berlin. We are very grateful to Thorsten Busse for his help in developing an electronic database for comparing the data. And we are very thankful to the German foundation SET, who financially supported this project. We also thank ZEBET (FK 1329-472) whose travel grant enabled the first author to present the project results at international conferences.
Publisher Copyright:
© The Authors, 2018.
PY - 2019
Y1 - 2019
N2 - Pain has a profound effect on an animal’s wellbeing. In Germany, researchers using animals have been legally required to reduce any possible pain, suffering, distress or lasting harm to an absolute minimum since 1972. To evaluate how these provisions have been implemented in practice, an assessment of refinements to experimental techniques was conducted by retrospectively reviewing 684 surgical interventions described in 506 animal research applications that were sent to the German competent authorities for approval in 2010. This paper focuses on the efficacy of proposed anesthesia and peri- and postoperative analgesia. Postoperative analgesia was not proposed for 30% of surgeries. Following 10% of procedures, animals were to be given pain relieving medication if the investigators decided this was necessary; however, structured assessments to detect pain were absent. Consequences of unalleviated pain and omission of pain assessment techniques are discussed, and some recommendations to improve anesthesia and analgesia are given. The findings of this review highlight the need for improvement, both to fulfil legal requirements and to improve animal welfare. To monitor compliance with animal welfare regulations and ensure good veterinary and scientific practices, education and training need to be intensified. Adherence to the items listed in the PREPARE and ARRIVE guidelines and the Gold Standard Publication Checklist (GSPC) should become legally binding.
AB - Pain has a profound effect on an animal’s wellbeing. In Germany, researchers using animals have been legally required to reduce any possible pain, suffering, distress or lasting harm to an absolute minimum since 1972. To evaluate how these provisions have been implemented in practice, an assessment of refinements to experimental techniques was conducted by retrospectively reviewing 684 surgical interventions described in 506 animal research applications that were sent to the German competent authorities for approval in 2010. This paper focuses on the efficacy of proposed anesthesia and peri- and postoperative analgesia. Postoperative analgesia was not proposed for 30% of surgeries. Following 10% of procedures, animals were to be given pain relieving medication if the investigators decided this was necessary; however, structured assessments to detect pain were absent. Consequences of unalleviated pain and omission of pain assessment techniques are discussed, and some recommendations to improve anesthesia and analgesia are given. The findings of this review highlight the need for improvement, both to fulfil legal requirements and to improve animal welfare. To monitor compliance with animal welfare regulations and ensure good veterinary and scientific practices, education and training need to be intensified. Adherence to the items listed in the PREPARE and ARRIVE guidelines and the Gold Standard Publication Checklist (GSPC) should become legally binding.
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U2 - 10.14573/altex.1804011
DO - 10.14573/altex.1804011
M3 - Article
C2 - 30222179
AN - SCOPUS:85057848450
SN - 1868-596X
VL - 36
SP - 65
EP - 80
JO - ALTEX
JF - ALTEX
IS - 1
ER -