Volume 209, March 2016, Pages 14–22
Review
- Utrecht, The Netherlands
- Accepted 26 July 2015, Available online 6 August 2015
Highlights
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- Accurate and reliable pain recognition and quantification are necessary for adequate pain management in horses.
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- Multiple pain scoring tools (pain scales) have been developed and evaluated for use in equine clinical pain states.
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- Multidimensional pain scales show higher agreement between different observers than other pain scales (VAS, NRS).
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- Facial expression pain scales appear easy to use and sensitive, showing great promise for application in clinical practice.
Abstract
Accurate
recognition and quantification of pain in horses is imperative for
adequate pain management. The past decade has seen a much needed surge
in formal development of systematic pain assessment tools for the
objective monitoring of pain in equine patients. This narrative review
describes parameters that can be used to detect pain in horses, provides
an overview of the various pain scales developed (visual analogue
scales, simple descriptive scales, numerical rating scales, time budget
analysis, composite pain scales and grimace scales), and highlights
their strengths and weaknesses for potential clinical implementation.
The available literature on the use of each pain assessment tool in
specific equine pain states (laminitis, lameness, acute synovitis,
post-castration, acute colic and post-abdominal surgery) is discussed,
including any problems with sensitivity, reliability or scale validation
as well as translation of results to other clinical pain states. The
review considers future development and further refinement of currently
available equine pain scoring systems.
Keywords
- Equine;
- Pain;
- Scale
Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
