Valérie COURBOULAY (1), Anne HEMONIC (1), Marie GADONNA (1), Armelle PRUNIER (2)
(1) IFIP, La Motte au Vicomte, 35650 Le Rheu (2) INRA1079, UMR SENAH, F-35590 Saint-Gilles
Different solutions have been investigated in order to reduce pain associated with piglet castration. Four treatments were compared in a
first experiment: sham castration (S), castration without analgesia or anaesthesia (V), castration with local anaesthesia (1ml lidocaïne 2%
/testis, L) and castration with anti-inflammatory treatment (0.75 ml ketoprofene 1% / piglet, K).
Considering that anaesthesia is time consuming, labour demand has been compared between V and L treatments in order to evaluate the
cost of this technique.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Experiment 1
4 males were allocated within litters to 4 treatments
(48 litters = 48 blocs)
• V: castration without analgesia or anesthesia
• S: sham castration
• L: castration with local anesthesia
Behaviour
(1ml lidocaïne 2% / testis) Vocalizations
• K: castration with anti-inflammatory treatment
Behaviour
Injections
1 obs / 2 min
(0.75 ml ketoprofene
1%
/
piglet)
K
L
Experiment 2
2 persons - 20min - 10min
2*6 litters / person / treatment
periment 2: L : vaccination ( + +
periment 2: V : vaccination ( + +
)
)
placed in a box
placed in a box
TO
Weight
- 20min
24 litters Experiment 2: L : vaccination ( + +
Experiment 2: V : vaccination ( + +
Behaviour
TO
1 obs / 2 min
Cortisol
+ 24h
- 10min
)
)
24 litters
Behaviour
1 obs / 2 min
Injections
K
L
- 24h
+ 1h
+ 30min
Behaviour
Vocalizations
Castration
Behaviour
1 obs / 2 min
+ 1h
+ 30min
placed in a box
placed in a box
Cortisol
+ 24h
+ 25h
18 litters
lidocaïne injection
(next litter)
castration
(next litter)
(next L)
Ti / piglet
+ 25h
18 litters
lidocaïne injection
(next litter)
castration
(next litter)
(next L)
castration
(next L)
Ti / piglet
RESULTS
Table 1 : Treatment effects on behaviour, vocalization, castration duration and cortisol level (mean ± SEM)
Experiment 1
Behaviour during castration (Table 1)
Body movements(1), % piglets
Vocalizations(2), dB
• call intensity and number of piglets trying to escape during Castration duration(2), sec
castration were reduced under local anesthesia.
Cortisol(2), ng/ml
• no effect of ketoprofene on these parameters.
(1) : Chi Square test ; (2) : ANOVA
L
S
V
Stat.
79 a
38 b
8c
96 a
P<10-4
113 a ± 4
103 b ± 11
99 b ± 16
113 a ± 4
P<10-4
22 ab ± 5
19 c ± 6
20 bc ± 2
24 a ± 6
P<10-2
67 a ± 58
197 c ± 58
P<10-4
128 b ± 48 177 c ± 64
Labour demand for V and L methods, sec/litter
• local anesthesia had no effect on plasma cortisol level whereas AINS
induced a reduction of it.
Post castration behaviour (Fig 1)
• on D0, K piglets tended to behave like S ones. Exploring and standing were more
frequent in K than in L and V piglets.
• on D1, no difference between treatments concerning non-specific behaviours.
Fig1 : Main treatment effects on pain-related behaviour after castration
Day 2
Day 1
S
b
20
K
ab
15
10
a
L
5
a
0
huddled up
Isolated
V
c
a
b
bc
Tail wagging
800
a
b ab b
L
V
600
400
200
0
25
% of scans
K
Experiment 2
Cortisol level
Labour demand, sec/litter
24h
EAAP 2010 - Session 17
Castration
eight
Castration under analgesia or local anesthesia:
impact on pain and labour demand
Batch 1
Batch 2
Operator 1
Batch 1
Batch 2
Operator 2 • Treatment, batch of animals and operator had significant
effects on labour demand.
• Mean anesthesia and castration duration per piglet were
30 ± 8 sec and 36 ± 10 sec respectively.
• Local anesthesia increased labour demand from 11 to 52%.
Scratching
Conclusion
Piglets feel pain during and after castration. Ketoprofene had a limited impact during castration but reduced post-operative pain. The main effect
of local anesthesia concerned pain during castration. The cost of this method was estimated at about 0.348 € in this experiment. Some L piglets
presented convulsions: further studies should determine more precisely the amount of lidocaïne that should be injected to obtain the maximal
pain reduction without negative side-effects.
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castra