The Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing is an academic center affiliated with the Division of Toxicological Sciences in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences of the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health.

 

Johns Hopkins School of Public Health

Research Grants 2003-2004

Telemetric Measurements of Effects of Post-Operative Analgesics

Gregory P. Boivin, DVM
University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio

An essential aspect of a quality animal care program is the provision for post-operative analgesia. We now have the ability to determine evidence of pain directly in rodents by the use of radio-telemetry. Evidence of pain can be demonstrated by telemetric changes in blood pressure, heart rate, core body temperature, electrocardiogram and locomotor activity levels. In this application we have devised a series of studies utilizing radio-telemetry to help determine whether post-operative analgesia improves the well being of the mouse.

We have 2 Specific Alms in this application. The first aim is to determine whether preemptive analgesia (the administration of analgesics before pain starts) improves analgesic activity over post-operative administration of analgesics. To examine this we will test the hypothesis that a single dose of flunixin meglumine or buprenorphine given prior to surgery will provide better post-operative analgesia than a dose given post-operatively. The second aim is to deterrnine whether multiple doses of buprenorphine improves analgesia compared with a single dose. Because buprenorphine provides analgesia in the tail flick test for only 35 hours in mice, we believe that post-operative pain will only be partially relieved by a single dose of buprenorphine, and thus can alter biological function in the rodent. We thus hypothesize that multiple dosages of buprenorphine given at 4 hour intervals will provide prolonged and improved post-operative analgesia compared with a single dose of buprenorphine.

Results of this research will provide information for optimization of the use of postoperative analgesics in mice. This will be very beneficial in preventing pain in numerous mouse surgical protocols used nationally and intemationally.