ArticlePloS one2019
Comparing the Rat Grimace Scale and a composite behaviour score in rats.
Article in PloS one, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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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.
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Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 36 citations in OpenAlex.
- Grimace scale, burrowing, and nest building for the assessment of post-surgical pain in mice and rats-A systematic review.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2022Pooled it
- Tail-rattling in rodents: more than a threat display.Journal of comparative physiology. A, Neuroethology, sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology · 2026Review
- Voluntary Wheel Running as Refinement Tool for Postoperative Severity Assessment and Humane Endpoint Detection in Rats with Brain Tumors.Brain sciences · 2026Article
- Alogliptin Delays the Healing of Traumatic Oral Ulcers in the Buccal Mucosa of Wistar Rats.Fundamental & clinical pharmacology · 2026Article
- Behavioral assessment of pain in rodents: advances from evoked responses to spontaneous states and multimodal approaches.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Preemptive analgesia regimen modulates hippocampalJournal of Taibah University Medical Sciences · 2025Article
- How facial expressions reveal acute pain in domestic animals with facial pain scales as a diagnostic tool.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2025Review
- Pharmacokinetics of Extended-release Buprenorphine and Clinical Efficacy for Postoperative Pain Management in the Domestic Ferret (Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science : JAALAS · 2024Article
- The grimace scale: a useful tool for assessing pain in laboratory animals.Experimental animals · 2024Review
- Rat Grimace Scale as a Method to Evaluate Animal Welfare, Nociception, and Quality of the Euthanasia Method of Wistar Rats.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2023Article
- The mechanism of human neural stem cell secretomes improves neuropathic pain and locomotor function in spinal cord injury rat models: through antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-matrix degradation, and neurotrophic activities.The Korean journal of pain · 2023Article
- Grimace scale assessment duringFrontiers in veterinary science · 2023Article
- Validation of the rabbit pain behaviour scale (RPBS) to assess acute postoperative pain in rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus).PloS one · 2022Article
- The neurobiology of pain and facial movements in rodents: Clinical applications and current research.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2022Review
- Pharmacokinetics and Efficacy of a Long-lasting, Highly Concentrated Buprenorphine Solution in Rats.Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science : JAALAS · 2021Article
- Indicators of Postoperative Pain in Syrian Hamsters (Comparative medicine · 2021Article
- Article
- A randomized clinical trial comparing butorphanol and buprenorphine within a multimodal analgesic protocol in cats undergoing orchiectomy.Journal of feline medicine and surgery · 2020Article
- Preclinical Neuropathic Pain Assessment; the Importance of Translatability and Bidirectional Research.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2020Review
- Intraperitoneal injection of sodium pentobarbital has the potential to elicit pain in adult rats (Rattus norvegicus).PloS one · 2020Article
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 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
There is a growing interest in the use of voluntarily displayed ongoing behaviours in laboratory animals to assess the pain experience. In rats, two behavioural pain scales, the Rat Grimace Scale (RGS, a facial expression scale) and a composite behaviour score (CBS, a behavioural ethogram reliant on postural changes), are both promising pain assessment methods. Both scales have been used to assess pain in a laparotomy model, however, they have never been compared directly and the knowledge of how different analgesics may affect these two scales is limited. This study aimed to provide a comparison to discriminate the temporal and analgesic response in a laparotomy model. Female Wistar (n = 26) and Sprague Dawley rats (n = 26) were block randomized to receive saline, meloxicam (2 mg/kg) or buprenorphine (0.05 mg/kg) 30 minutes before laparotomy. Rats were video-recorded before surgery (BL) and at 30, 150, 270, and 390 minutes post-operatively. Videos were assessed according to both scales by a trained, blinded observer. Both CBS and RGS scores increased significantly at all post surgical timepoints in the saline group. Both buprenorphine and meloxicam reduced CBS scores to baseline levels following laparotomy; however, RGS scores were only reduced following buprenorphine. RGS scores in the meloxicam group remained similar to scores of the saline group. These findings suggest that the CBS and RGS differ in their sensitivity to discriminating analgesic effects.
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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.