Behavioral evaluation of pain in goats (Capra hircus) undergoing orthopedic surgery

• Grant number: 23/15670-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: February 01, 2024
• End date: January 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Veterinary Medicine - Animal Clinics and Surgery
• Principal Investigator: Paulo Aléscio Canola
• Grantee: Fernanda Figueiredo Lindenberg
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias (FCAV). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Jaboticabal. Jaboticabal , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Pain control in animals is still a challenge in veterinary medicine due to the great difficulty in measuring and determining the intensity of the painful stimulus. This creates the need to formulate a pain score for the different species, which allows deducing its intensity and, consequently, contributing to the assessment of well-being. Hereby, we will seek to observe and record the behavior of 17 male goats, undergoing an orthopedic surgical procedure to place polylactic acid (PLA) scaffolds, manufactured using a 3D printer, in the left iliac crest. During the study, the animals will be housed in collective stalls (two to three animals per stall). Firstly, an ethogram will be created based on footage and photographs of the animals, to allow the creation of behavioral parameters for the observer's evaluation. Then, the experimental phase will begin, which will be divided into eight evaluation moments: (1) before the surgical procedure, (2) one and (3) four hours after the animal assumes sternal recumbency, post-surgery, and subsequently (4) 12 hours, (5) 24 hours, (6) 48 hours, (7) 72 hours and (8) 96 hours. Using the ethogram, the aim is to evaluate and grade the animals' postoperative discomfort and, in this way, evaluate the effectiveness of the implemented analgesic protocol.