Australian Therapeutic Good Association

nt than in the current mulesing debate that has put the Australian wool market under intense scrutiny by international importers. The growing pressure to select wool from unmulesed sheep has led to an industry push to phase out the procedure by 2010 should a viable solution not be found. Although the ideal long-term solution is to develop painless alternatives to such procedures, this will not happen. In the interim, the development of effective methods of pain alleviation that are practical, affordable, and applicable to farming operations is essential to reduce suffering while an alternative is pursued. Our group has been conducting studies over the past 2 years on the application of a spray-on topical anesthetic formulation, Tri-Solfen®, to the wounds inflicted by mulesing, castration, and tail docking. We have assessed wound sensitivity using Von Frey Hair stimulation, mea- suring local involuntary reflexes, and central cognition. These responses were graded using a numerical rating scale. Observation of behavioral responses to pain was also conducted, along with a novel technique to assess wound healing that involved digital photography and computerized surface area measurement. Findings indicate that the application of Tri-Solfen® to mulesing, castration, and tail docking wounds significantly reduced the pain experienced postproce- dure and improved the rate of wound healing in mulesing wounds. Correspondence should be sent to Sabrina Lomax, Faculty of Veterinary Science, The University of Sydney, 48a Alfred Street, Saint Peters, New South Wales, Australia 2044. Email: s.lomax@ usyd.edu.au

…8% total dyestuff to 250 mL ing registration with the Australian Therapeutic Good of 0.9% sodium chloride (Baxter Healthcare). Identi- Association as a non-prescription veterinary product cal spray bottles were…

…IMPETUS ANIMAL WELFARE LTD ABN 54 660 772 547, an ACNC registered Australian not-for-profit entity ("Company"). 2. MEDICAL ETHICS PTY LTD ACN 606 628 353 of Level 27, 101 Collins…

…analgesics. Australian Veter- 2005). Coetzee et al. (2009) documented a half-life of 27.5 h inary Journal 89, 297–304. in calves, supporting the notion that meloxicam is a good Davies…

tudy. twice the recommended therapeutic dose (n = 12). Studies suggest that local anaesthetic infiltration can have delete- In conclusion, the topical anaesthetic and antiseptic formula- rious effects on wound healing after surgical incisions,42 but tion Tri-Solfen®, is effective at alleviating pain and enhancing impaired wound healing has generally not been apparent in wound healing in lambs post-mulesing. These results suggest clinical trials.43 We have documented a significant improvement that if widely adopted, the use of topical anaesthesia has the in wound contraction rates in lambs treated with Tri-Solfen®. In capacity to dramatically reduce the burden of acute animal Trial 1, there was an unanticipated and inadvertent discrepancy husbandry related pain and suffering in young lambs through-out in initial wound size between groups. Nevertheless improved Australia. wound healing with Tri-Solfen® was suggested by finding a sig- nificant group effect over the first 14 day evaluation period. This Acknowledgements This research program was approved by the Animal Ethics was confirmed in the second larger trial in which initial wound Committee of the University of Sydney and conforms to the size bias was eliminated. These results support the conclusions of provisions of the Declaration of Helsinki (2000). The support of Eroglu et al,44 that topical anaesthesia does not impair, and may Mr Steven Burgun and staff at Arthursleigh and Mr Geoff improve wound healing. However, it is probable that actives Moore and staff at Yerilla, the statistical support of Associate other than the local anaesthetic agents in Tri-Solfen®, such as Professor Jennifer Peat PhD and funds for handling equipment the antiseptic and the gel base may be responsible for this effect, from the

alia and New Zealand, with a demonstrated ability to reduce post-operative hyperalgesic responses and pain-related behaviour in calves post-disbudding [7,8] and castration [9]. It contains local anaesthetics (50 g/L Lidocaine hy- drochloride and 5 g/L Bupivacaine hydrochloride), a vasoconstrictor (0.048 g/L Adrenaline acid tartrate) and an antiseptic agent (5 g/L Cetrimide). The veterinary medicines regulatory approval process requires, amongst other things, high standards of proof of safety of new animal medicines. Typically, this involves “Tar- get Animal Safety”, as well as “field” safety studies, for which there are internationally harmonized (VICH) approved standards and guidelines [10]. The former is designed to examine detailed biochemical, haematological and histopathological impacts and also examine the impact of much higher dosages (e.g., 3–5× dosage) to understand the risk of potential misuse or accidental overdose. The latter are larger scale trials designed to examine safety of use in the field. The data generated from such trials can fill information gaps and be of high public value. This is particularly the case in terms of Tri-Solfen® application to open wounds, such as the disbudding wound in calves. Although the local anaesthetics in Tri-Solfen® have been widely used in human and veterinary medicine for many decades, there remains a dearth of information of the safety impacts, both local and systemic, when used in calves, and when applied topically to significant open wounds. The acute systemic toxic effects of lidocaine and bupivacaine have been well described in humans and a variety of species (e.g., dogs, goat kids, lambs, pigs, horses and mon- keys) [11]. Lidocaine and bupivacaine are amide local anaesthetics that alter neural signal

751-0813.2010.00551.x © 2010 The Authors 74 Australian Veterinary Journal Volume 88, No 3, March 2010 Journal compilation © 2010 Australian Veterinary Association

…2004a) Pharmacology and Therapeutics 10, 202–209. doi:10.1111/j.1365- Behavioural responses of calves to amputation dehorning with and 2885.1987.tb00530.x without local anaesthesia. Australian Veterinary Journal 82…

Analgesia for Surgical Husbandry Procedures in Sheep and Other Livestock Dr Meredith L Sheil, Animal Ethics Pty Ltd, Associate Sydney University Faculty of Veterinary Science SUMMARY Surgical husbandry procedures in livestock are invariably associated with pain and stress, yet are traditionally performed without analgesia. Concern for the welfare of animals undergoing these procedures is contributing to major conflicts between farmers and animal advocacy organisations with important negative trade implications. Whilst the ultimate long term solution is to breed animals that do not require these procedures, or to find painless alternative practices, this will take time and a significant research effort in most cases. In the meantime, there is an urgent need to find a more immediate way to alleviate welfare concerns. This can be achieved by developing effective low-cost analgesia for on-farm use, to allow surgical procedures in livestock to be performed as humanely as surgical procedures in domestic animals and humans, while long term solutions are pursued and implemented. The first step in reaching this goal was realised with the development and commercialisation of Tri-Solfen® (Bayer Animal Health, Gordon NSW). Tri-Solfen® is a low-cost, farmer-applied topical anaesthetic, haemostatic and antiseptic wound care product that significantly alleviates pain associated with mulesing. Subsequent research identified that pre-operative administration of Carprofen enhanced the analgesic effects. Used together these agents eliminate pain-related behaviour for 24 hours post mulesing and abolish the cortisol response, thus providing highly effective analgesia that equates to (if not surpasses) that which is achieved for routine surgical procedures in veterinary clinics, such as

…This work was funded by Australian Pork Limited as part of their annual use of analgesic and anaesthetic interventions to address the pain associated with piglet hus- competitive grants scheme. Bayer supplied…