BOX 4-2Additional Considerations for the Prevention and Management of Pain in Laboratory Animals

• Pain in animals is often unrecognized and undertreated.
• If a procedure is considered painful in humans, it should be assumed to be painful in laboratory animals, regardless of their age or species.
• Adequate treatment of pain may be associated with decreased complications, lower mortality, reduced variability in experimental data, and improved scientific outcomes.
• The appropriate use of environmental, nonpharmacologic, or pharmacological interventions, as well as the selection of humane endpoints in animal experimentation, can prevent or reduce animal pain in most experimental designs without compromising the scientific validity of the research, except where pain is the subject of research.
• Researchers, veterinarians, and animal care professionals should be responsible for learning about the assessment, prevention, and management of pain in laboratory animals.
• Veterinarians and animal care professionals should develop IACUC-approved educational guidelines and protocols for the management of pain in laboratory animals at their institution.