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Efficacy of pain management for cattle castration: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Nogues, Emeline; Stojkov, Jane; Jonoska Stojkova, Biljana; von Keyserlingk, Marina A.G.; Weary, Daniel M.
Description
While much research has assessed methods of pain control for the castration of male cattle, a lack of consensus remains on best practice. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies, published before July 2024, that focused on castration, included an untreated control (i.e. castrated without pain mitigation) and included at least one treatment (i.e. castrated with a local anesthetic alone, or in combination with a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug). All three commonly used castration methods of were included: surgical, elastration, and crushing. Studies had to report at least one of the following outcomes: cortisol, change in body weight, foot stomping, wound licking, a subjective assessment of pain using a visual analogue scale, or stride length. Our search identified 383 publications, 17 of which were eligible for inclusion. Most publications focused on surgical castration (n = 14), and the most frequently outcome reported was blood cortisol (n = 13). None of the included studies were assessed as having a low risk of bias, mostly due to a lack of reporting blinding procedures and reasons for missing data. We used a three-level random effect model fitted at 1, 3, 4, 6, 12 and 24 h after castration to meta-analyze the effect of surgical castration on blood cortisol. Multimodal analgesia reduced blood cortisol concentrations in the first hour following surgical castration in comparison to the control group (-40.8 nmol/L; 95% CI: -51.4, -30.1); this effect was diminished but still evident at 3 and 4 h after castration. Too few data were available to meaningfully assess other outcomes and methods. The variability in the choice of methods and outcomes between studies, as well as the risks of bias, hinders capacity to provide science-based recommendations for best practice.
Item Metadata
| Title |
Efficacy of pain management for cattle castration: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
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| Creator | |
| Contributor | |
| Date Issued |
2024-12-02
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| Description |
While much research has assessed methods of pain control for the castration of male cattle, a lack of consensus remains on best practice. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies, published before July 2024, that focused on castration, included an untreated control (i.e. castrated without pain mitigation) and included at least one treatment (i.e. castrated with a local anesthetic alone, or in combination with a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug). All three commonly used castration methods of were included: surgical, elastration, and crushing. Studies had to report at least one of the following outcomes: cortisol, change in body weight, foot stomping, wound licking, a subjective assessment of pain using a visual analogue scale, or stride length. Our search identified 383 publications, 17 of which were eligible for inclusion. Most publications focused on surgical castration (n = 14), and the most frequently outcome reported was blood cortisol (n = 13). None of the included studies were assessed as having a low risk of bias, mostly due to a lack of reporting blinding procedures and reasons for missing data. We used a three-level random effect model fitted at 1, 3, 4, 6, 12 and 24 h after castration to meta-analyze the effect of surgical castration on blood cortisol. Multimodal analgesia reduced blood cortisol concentrations in the first hour following surgical castration in comparison to the control group (-40.8 nmol/L; 95% CI: -51.4, -30.1); this effect was diminished but still evident at 3 and 4 h after castration. Too few data were available to meaningfully assess other outcomes and methods. The variability in the choice of methods and outcomes between studies, as well as the risks of bias, hinders capacity to provide science-based recommendations for best practice.
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| Date Available |
2024-11-26
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| Provider |
University of British Columbia Library
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| License |
CC-BY 4.0
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| DOI |
10.14288/1.0447387
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| URI | |
| Publisher DOI | |
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| Aggregated Source Repository |
Dataverse
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CC-BY 4.0