Trial reportVeterinary anaesthesia and analgesia2015
An equine pain face.
Trial report in Veterinary anaesthesia and analgesia, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 115 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
115 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 272 citations in OpenAlex.
- "Do not look at me like that": Is the facial expression score reliable and accurate to evaluate pain in large domestic animals? A systematic review.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2022Pooled it
- The detection of capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin in horse serum following long-term local administration.BMC veterinary research · 2018Trial
- Technologies for equine welfare and performance monitoring under field conditions - Where do we stand?Equine veterinary journal · 2026Review
- Smartphone-Based Technologies in Equine Sports Medicine: Supporting Athlete Management-A Review.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Preliminary investigation of equine veterinary hospital staff attitudes towards pain assessment in a single centre.The Veterinary record · 2026Article
- A multimodal approach to equine thoracolumbar myofascial pain: integrating clinical examination, AI-based gait analysis, and the ridden horse pain ethogram.BMC veterinary research · 2026Article
- Industry Perceptions of Thoroughbred Racehorse Emotions and Quality of Life: Implications for the Development of an Equine Quality of Life Assessment Tool.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026Article
- From Concept to Perception: Equestrian Definitions of Harmony and Visual Attention in Horse-Rider Evaluation.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026Article
- Survey describing the perspectives and practices of Australian veterinarians to pain management in horses.Australian veterinary journal · 2026Article
- Multi-Modal Feature Fusion and Hierarchical Classification for Automated Equine-Human Interaction Behavior Recognition.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Myofascial trigger points as a primary cause of equine lameness: a biomechanical, neurophysiological, and fascial review.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2026Review
- Social enrichment mitigates facial expressions and physiological indicators of short-term stress in horses.PloS one · 2026Article
- Influence of riders' physical activity on improving seat balance in the context of horse welfare - A pilot study.PloS one · 2026Article
- Biotinidase as a novel biomarker for pain assessment in dairy cattle.Pain reports · 2025Article
- Introducing an Innovative Pain Scale for Assessing Postpartum Pain in Mares: Preliminary Clinical Evaluation.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2025Article
- Heart Rate Variability Spectral Analysis for Monitoring Autonomic Activation in a Donkey Involved in Animal-Assisted Therapy: A Single Subject Design During Animal-Assisted Therapy Sessions.Veterinary sciences · 2025Article
- What if Horses Were Humans? Comparing Rein Tension and Bit Pressures to Human Pressure Pain Thresholds.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2025Article
- A Review of Assessment of Sow Pain During Farrowing Using Grimace Scores.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2025Review
- Evaluation of water treadmill training, lunging and treadmill training in the rehabilitation of horses with back pain.BMC veterinary research · 2025Article
- Clinical Effectiveness of Dry Needling on Myofascial Trigger Points in Horses: A Prospective Algometric Controlled Study.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2025Article
55 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveThe objective of this study was to investigate the existence of an equine pain face and to describe this in detail. STUDY
designSemi-randomized, controlled, crossover trial. ANIMALS: Six adult horses.
methodsPain was induced with two noxious stimuli, a tourniquet on the antebrachium and topical application of capsaicin. All horses participated in two control trials and received both noxious stimuli twice, once with and once without an observer present. During all sessions their pain state was scored. The horses were filmed and the close-up video recordings of the faces were analysed for alterations in behaviour and facial expressions. Still images from the trials were evaluated for the presence of each of the specific pain face features identified from the video analysis.
resultsBoth noxious challenges were effective in producing a pain response resulting in significantly increased pain scores. Alterations in facial expressions were observed in all horses during all noxious stimulations. The number of pain face features present on the still images from the noxious challenges were significantly higher than for the control trial (p = 0.0001). Facial expressions representative for control and pain trials were condensed into explanatory illustrations. During pain sessions with an observer present, the horses increased their contact-seeking behavior. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: An equine pain face comprising 'low' and/or 'asymmetrical' ears, an angled appearance of the eyes, a withdrawn and/or tense stare, mediolaterally dilated nostrils and tension of the lips, chin and certain facial muscles can be recognized in horses during induced acute pain. This description of an equine pain face may be useful for improving tools for pain recognition in horses with mild to moderate pain.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.