Real-time and video-recorded pain assessment in beef cattle: clinical application and reliability in young, adult bulls undergoing surgical castration.

Bovine pain assessment relies on validated behavioral scales related to normal and pain-related behaviors. This study investigated the reliability and applicability of real-time and video-recorded pain assessment, and their agreement, in young, adult bulls undergoing surgical castration. Ten Nelore and nine Angus bulls underwent general anesthesia and surgical castration. Three-minute real-time observations and simultaneous videos were recorded at - 48 h (M0), before sedation, under fasting (M1), after surgery, 3 h after sternal recumbency (M2), after rescue analgesia (M3) and at 24 h (M4). Animals received morphine (after M2), dipyrone (after M3), and flunixin meglumine after surgical castration (M4). Two trained evaluators assessed real-time (n = 95) and video-recorded time-points (n = 95) using the Unesp-Botucatu Cattle Pain Scale (UCAPS). Both assessment methods inferred 'very good' reliability (≥ 0.81) with minimal bias, however, video-recorded assessment (4.33 ± 2.84) demonstrated slightly higher scores compared to real-time (3.08 ± 2.84). The results from this study suggest that UCAPS can be used in real-time or video-recorded to assess pain and guide analgesic therapy in cattle.

Effects of assessment method (real-time versus video-recorded) on a validated pain-altered behavior scale used in castrated piglets.

We aimed to compare two assessment methodologies (real-time vs. video-recorded) using the Unesp-Botucatu Pig Composite Acute Pain Scale (UPAPS) in piglets before and after castration. Twenty-nine male piglets were castrated. Four observers scored the UPAPS over three perioperative timepoints of castration following two assessment methodologies. In real-time assessments, the observers were in-person observing the piglets in front of the pen. After two weeks, the observers did video-recorded assessments randomizing piglets and timepoints. Modeling was conducted to compare the UPAPS and each pain-altered behavior between methodologies. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), Bland-Altman, and Lin's concordance correlation coefficient (CCC) were conducted to investigate agreement between methodologies. UPAPS was statistically equivalent between methodologies (P = 0.4371). The ICC for each method was very good (0.85 to 0.91). The agreement of the UPAPS assessed between methodologies had minimal bias (- 0.04), no proportion bias, and 53% of the assessments presented a perfect agreement. However, CCC of the UPAPS was moderate (0.65), and only one pain-altered behavior ("presents difficulty in overcoming obstacles or other animals") occurred more in real-time assessments (P = 0.0444). In conclusion, piglet pain assessment by UPAPS can be conducted in real-time based on a suitable agreement between the real-time and video-recorded assessment methods.