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Home / Equine Research Bank / Equine Vet J / Post-operative pain behaviour associated with surgical castr...
Equine veterinary journal2020; 53(2); 261-266; doi: 10.1111/evj.13306

Post-operative pain behaviour associated with surgical castration in donkeys (Equus asinus).

Abstract: Recognising pain in donkeys is challenging because they are stoic. Objective: To identify the responses of donkeys before and after surgical pain. Methods: Prospective, short-term longitudinal pre- and post-intervention observations. Methods: Forty adult donkeys underwent surgical castration after sedation with intravenous (IV) xylazine, induction with guaiphenesin/thiopental IV and maintenance of anaesthesia with isoflurane and local anaesthetic blockade. Four hours after recovery from anaesthesia, flunixin meglumine 1.1 mg/kg, dipyrone 10 mg/kg and morphine 0.2 mg/kg IV were administered. Behavioural responses exhibited by the animals housed in individual stalls were recorded in four 30-min videos: before castration (M0), and 3.5-4.0 hours (M1), 5.5-6.0 hours (M2) and 23.5-24.0 hours after recovery from anaesthesia (M3). To exclude the influence of insects, the behaviour of six apparently pain-free donkeys was compared with and without the presence of faeces and urine in the stall. Results: When compared with presurgical baseline behaviours (M0), after surgery (M1) donkeys raised their pelvic limbs more (P = .003). When compared with M1, after analgesia (M2), the median frequencies of ear movements (44 vs 16; P < .001), head shaking (7 vs 1; P < .001), head turning (5 vs 0; P < .001) and lifting of the both limbs (7 vs 0; P = .008) decreased; feeding (0 vs 29; P < .001) and water intake (0 vs 0, range 0-1 vs 0-7; P = .05) increased. The dirty stall increased tail (53 vs 80; P = .03), head (16 vs 30; P = .03) and ear movements (50 vs 78; P = .04). Conclusions: The dirty stall and presence of insects possibly contributed to the expression of behaviours unrelated to pain. Conclusions: Lifting the pelvic limbs was the only specific pain behaviour after castration in donkeys. Analgesia restored appetite and water intake and reduced the frequency of head shaking and turning, ear movement and lifting the limbs. Tail, head and ear movements are unspecific responses related both to pain and a dirty stall, and are confounding factors when pain is assessed in donkeys in the presence of insects.
© 2020 The Authors. Equine Veterinary Journal published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of EVJ Ltd.
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Publication Date: 2020-07-08 PubMed ID: 32525236PubMed Central: PMC7891375DOI: 10.1111/evj.13306Google Scholar: Lookup
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Summary

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The study examined the responses of donkeys before and after surgical pain, specifically castration, in order to better understand pain behavior in this stoic animal. It found that lifting the pelvic limbs was a specific pain indicator after castration, while medications helped restore eating and drinking habits and reduce other movements.

Research Methodology

  • The study was a prospective, short-term longitudinal pre- and post-surgical observation of forty adult donkeys who were to undergo surgical castration.
  • The animals were prepared for surgery using several kinds of medications including sedation, induction, maintenance of anesthesia, and local anesthetic blockade.
  • Post-operation, the donkeys were given analgesic medications including flunixin meglumine, dipyrone, and morphine.
  • Behavioural responses of the animals, housed individually, were recorded at four different time intervals: before the surgery, and three different periods after recovery from anesthesia.
  • An additional observation was conducted on another group of pain-free donkeys in clean and dirty stall conditions, to check for behavioral changes due to discomfort factors other than pain.

Results and Observation

  • Following surgery, the donkeys raised their pelvic limbs more frequently than they did before surgery.
  • After receiving analgesia, the animals’ frequency of ear movements, head shaking, head turning, and lifting both limbs decreased significantly. There was also a stark increase in eating and drinking behaviors.
  • The presence of faeces and urine in a stall led to an increased frequency of tail wagging, head movement, and ear movement. These are unspecific responses that could confuse the assessment of pain in donkeys, particularly in the presence of insects.

Conclusions

  • The research concluded that lifting the pelvic limbs could be considered as a specific pain indicator in donkeys post-castration.
  • Analgesics were found to restore animals’ eating and drinking habits and also brought down the frequency of certain movements.
  • The study also highlighted the importance of considering environmental factors like cleanliness of the stall, which was seen to affect animals’ behaviour and could lead to conflicting interpretations of pain behavior.

Cite This Article

APA
de Oliveira MGC, Luna SPL, Nunes TL, Firmino PR, de Lima AGA, Ferreira J, Trindade PHE, Júnior RAB, de Paula VV. (2020). Post-operative pain behaviour associated with surgical castration in donkeys (Equus asinus). Equine Vet J, 53(2), 261-266. https://doi.org/10.1111/evj.13306

Publication

Equine veterinary journal
ISSN: 2042-3306
NlmUniqueID: 0173320
Country: United States
Language: English
Volume: 53
Issue: 2
Pages: 261-266

Researcher Affiliations

de Oliveira, Maria Gláucia Carlos
  • Universidade Federal Rural do Semi-Árido (UFERSA), Mossoró, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil.
Luna, Stelio P L
  • São Paulo State University (Unesp), Botucatu, Brazil.
Nunes, Talyta Lins
  • Bahia Federal University (UFBA), Salvador, Brazil.
Firmino, Paulo R
  • Universidade Federal Rural do Semi-Árido (UFERSA), Mossoró, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil.
de Lima, Amara Gyane A
  • Universidade Federal Rural do Semi-Árido (UFERSA), Mossoró, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil.
Ferreira, Josiel
  • Universidade Federal Rural do Semi-Árido (UFERSA), Mossoró, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil.
Trindade, Pedro H E
  • São Paulo State University (Unesp), Botucatu, Brazil.
Júnior, Raimundo A B
  • Universidade Federal Rural do Semi-Árido (UFERSA), Mossoró, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil.
de Paula, Valéria Veras
  • Universidade Federal Rural do Semi-Árido (UFERSA), Mossoró, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil.

MeSH Terms

  • Anesthetics, Local
  • Animals
  • Equidae
  • Male
  • Pain, Postoperative / veterinary
  • Prospective Studies
  • Xylazine

Grant Funding

  • AUX 395/2018 PGCI / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior
  • Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

Conflict of Interest Statement

No competing interests have been declared.

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Citations

This article has been cited 3 times.
  1. Alipour-Khairkhah H, Azizi S, Asri-Rezaei S. Stress, lipid profile and inflammatory responses to flunixin meglumine administration in surgical and non-surgical castration in donkeys. Vet Anim Sci 2025 Mar;27:100423.
    doi: 10.1016/j.vas.2024.100423pubmed: 39835330google scholar: lookup
  2. Trindade PHE, Mello JFSR, Silva NEOF, Luna SPL. Improving Ovine Behavioral Pain Diagnosis by Implementing Statistical Weightings Based on Logistic Regression and Random Forest Algorithms. Animals (Basel) 2022 Oct 26;12(21).
    doi: 10.3390/ani12212940pubmed: 36359065google scholar: lookup
  3. de Oliveira MGC, de Paula VV, Mouta AN, Lima IO, de Macêdo LB, Nunes TL, Trindade PHE, Luna SPL. Validation of the Donkey Pain Scale (DOPS) for Assessing Postoperative Pain in Donkeys. Front Vet Sci 2021;8:671330.
    doi: 10.3389/fvets.2021.671330pubmed: 34179164google scholar: lookup
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