J Am Assoc Lab Anim
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J Am Assoc Lab Anim · Jan 2013
Randomized Controlled TrialAssessment of postoperative analgesia after application of ultrasound-guided regional anesthesia for surgery in a swine femoral fracture model.
Management of pain in research swine used for studies involving painful procedures is a considerable challenge. Here we assessed whether a regional anesthesia method is effective for pain control of hindlimb injuries in pigs used for research in bone fracture healing. For this randomized controlled study, we administered regional anesthesia before an experimental femoral injury was produced. ⋯ Treatment pigs had lower subjective pain scores than did control animals. Control pigs had a longer time to first feed consumption and required additional analgesia earlier in the postoperative period than did treatment pigs. Ultrasound-guided regional anesthesia is a viable and effective adjunct to systemic analgesics for providing pain control in swine with experimental femoral fractures.