USDA Pain and Distress Categories - VA Research



|USDA Pain and Distress Categories |

|USDA Policy #11 defines painful procedures “as any procedure that would reasonably be expected to cause more than slight or momentary pain and/or distress in a human being to which that procedure is applied.”|

|Furthermore, USDA Policy #11 stipulates the following: |

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|Individual animals that do not experience pain/distress from |

|testing procedures should be reported in column C. |

|Individual animals experiencing pain/distress which is alleviated with anesthetics, analgesics, |

|sedatives and/or tranquilizers should be reported in column D. This category |

|includes terminal surgery under anesthesia. |

|Individual animals in which needed anesthetics, analgesics, sedatives, and/or tranquilizers are withheld should be |

|reported in column E. |

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|Note: In some cases where pain relieving drugs cannot be used the IACUC may allow the animals to be assigned to category D, if the animals are euthanized as soon as clinical signs of pain and distress are |

|recognized. |

|The examples provided below are representative of the types of procedures or conditions that correlate with a particular category. The example list is not intended to be all inclusive, rather a guidance tool|

|to assist the IACUC. |

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|USDA Category B |USDA Category C |USDA Category D |USDA Category E |

|No pain or distress |Slight or momentary pain or distress |Pain or distress appropriately |Unrelieved pain or distress |

| |or no pain or distress |relieved by analgesia, | |

| | |tranquilization or anesthesia. | |

| Examples |Examples |Examples |Examples |

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| |Holding, weighing or transporting animals |Potentially stressful transportation of animals |Ocular or skin irritancy testing |

|Animals (breeders, offspring that |(relatively short distances under non-stressful |that requires tranquillization |Burns or trauma |

|cannot be used because of improper |conditions) |Survival/terminal surgical procedures |Radiation sickness |

|genotype1 and/or gender, or other |Injections (nonirritating), blood collection or |Retro-orbital blood collection under anesthesia |Toxicological or microbiological testing, cancer research or |

|animals) being maintained without any |catheterization of superficial vessels |Tail biopsy in mice > 21 days old |infectious disease research that requires continuation until |

|research manipulation, prior to |Collection of body fluids or tissues post mortem |Exposure of blood vessels for catheter |clinical symptoms are evident or death occurs. Experiment induction|

|euthanasia or transfer to another |Tattooing animals |implantation |of disease (i.e., Diabetes, Epilepsy, Parkinson’s, etc.) including |

|protocol. |Ear punching of rodents |Exsanguination and/or perfusion under anesthesia|metabolic and nutritional diseases or disease resulting from |

|Observation of animal behavior in the |Routine physical examinations | |exposure to toxicants |

|wild without manipulating the animal |Observation of animal behavior |Genetically engineered phenotype that causes pain|Mutants with chronic pain or debilitation which is not relieved |

|or its environment. |Studies, which do not result in clinical signs of |or distress that will be alleviated. |with analgesics or by appropriate intervention. |

|Physical restraint and preventative |pain and/or distress |Use of Freund’s Complete Adjuvant |Food or water deprivation that exceeds ordinary pre-surgical |

|medical procedures such as routine |AVMA approved humane euthanasia procedures |Ocular and Skin Irritancy testing where pain and |preparation or is stressful to the animal |

|vaccination |Routine agricultural husbandry procedures |distress are relieved |Application of noxious stimuli (i.e. electrical shock) that cannot |

|Routine husbandry procedures |Observational studies and live trapping (traps must|Any post procedural outcome resulting in evident |be avoided or escaped |

| |provide adequate shelter/food and be checked |pain, discomfort or distress such as that |Restraint using paralyzing or immobilizing drugs without |

| |frequently to ensure survival) |associated with: |anesthesia or prolonged restraint for long periods of time (days to|

| | |•    decreased appetite/activity level |weeks) |

| | |•    adverse reactions to touch |Exposure to abnormal or extreme environmental conditions |

| | |•    open skin lesions |Psychotic-like behavior suggesting a painful or distressful status |

| | |•    abscesses |whether or not resulting from a procedure |

| | |•    lameness |Behavior or testing resulting in injury to cage mates or self |

| | |•    conjunctivitis |Studies in which animals are allowed to die without intervention |

| | |•    corneal edema or |(e.g. LD50, mortality as an end-point), |

| | |•    photophobia |studies that allow endpoints that are painful or stressful (i.e., |

| | | |addictive drug withdrawals without treatment, pain research) |

| | |but are relieved with analgesics |Any procedures for which needed analgesics, tranquilizers, |

| | | |sedatives or anesthetics must be withheld for justifiable study |

| | |11. Food or water deprivation beyond that |purposes. |

| | |necessary for normal presurgical preparation |Euthanasia by procedures not approved by the AVMA |

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| | |12. Noxious electrical shock that is not | |

| | |immediately escapable. | |

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| | |13.Paralysis or immobility in a conscious animal | |

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1 If tail snips are collected to genotype the animals, Category B is not appropriate.

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