Ethical Guidelines for Investigations of Experimental Pain in Conscious Animals1

for the Study of Pain (IASP®) is concerned with the ethical aspects of studies producing experimental pain and any suffering it may cause in animals. Such studies are essential if new and clinically relevant knowledge about the mechanisms of pain is to be acquired. Investigations in conscious animals intended to stimulate chronic pain in man are being performed. Such experiments require careful planning to avoid or at least minimize pain in the animals. Investigators of animals models for chronic pain, as well as those applying acute painful stimuli to animals, should be aware of the problems pertinent to such studies and should make every effort to minimize pain. They should accept a general attitude in which the animal is regarded not as an object for exploitation, but as a living individual. In practice, investigators engaged in research on pain in animals should consider the following guidelines aimed at minimizing pain in animals and, when submitting a manuscript, state explicitly that they have been followed. The guidelines are concerned with the importance of the investigation, the severity and the duration of the pain. 1. It is essential that the intended experiments on pain in conscious animals be reviewed beforehand by scientists and lay-persons. The potential benefit of such experiments to our understanding of pain mechanisms and pain therapy needs to 1 International Association for the Study of Pain [homepage on the Internet]. Ethical guidelines for investigations of experimental pain in conscious animals