Severity assessment in pigs after partial liver resection: evaluation of a score sheet

Abstract

Severity assessment in biomedical research is required by the European authorities. Therefore, a variety of score sheets are available. The first score sheets were designed and introduced by Morton and Griffith (M&G) in 1985, to assess pain and distress in animals. Score sheets are an important part of the 3R principles to evaluate the degree of severity in different studies. Here, we used a modified score sheet from M&G for severity assessment of 12 Aachen minipigs after partial liver resection for safety testing of a novel synthetic sealant (VIVO-107). The control group was treated with the clinical standard fibrin. Estimation of recovery status of both groups was performed from the day of surgery to postoperative day 7 using a score sheet. Included parameters were blood loss during the surgical procedure, general state, spontaneous behaviour and clinical results. Values from 0 to 20 were graded for each category and resulted in the degree of strain (DS) from DS0 to DS4. An increasing DS indicated higher severity. Suitability of the implemented score sheet was evaluated. Higher score points were documented almost exclusively as an outcome of the clinical results, influenced mainly by increased temperature in the fibrin treated control group, whereas, spontaneous behaviour had only slight influence and general state had no influence. The average score seven days after surgery was <2. The laparotomy, where the partial liver resection is a part, is rated as moderate severity in the EU Directive 2010/63, while the assessment done in the present study hints to a mild severity of the model in our hands.

Long-Term Degradation Assessment of a Polyurethane-Based Surgical Adhesive—Assessment and Critical Consideration of Preclinical In Vitro and In Vivo Testing

“…On the other hand, for research on PU-based tissue adhesive in general, the presented results complete an integral step of the preclinical development of the described PUAS. It has already been demonstrated to be able to overcome material-based shortcomings of other adhesives for different indications as investigated and published in previous research [ 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 ]. In the present study, the complete degradation of PUAS was documented for the first time.…”

“…The adhesive can be stored at room temperature and can be easily administered to the target location using the sterile, ready-to-use dual-chamber syringe. It already demonstrated its easy handling and efficacy in different studies ranging from ex vivo studies to in vivo studies [ 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 ].…”

Does Sex Matter in Liver Surgery? Comparison of Severity Assessments between Female and Male Rats after Partial Hepatectomy: A Pilot Study

“…In contrast to body weight and other easily measurable parameters, general health status and behavioral changes are generally scored subjectively [50, 51] and so are heavily influenced by rater experience and a variety of more transient physiological and emotional factors [43, 52]. To reduce rater-specific variation of score point, only two raters (experience <5 years) scored the severity score.…”

Adenosine A2a Receptor Stimulation Attenuates Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury and Improves Survival in A Porcine Model of DCD Liver Transplantation

“…Animals were monitored for 3 days postoperatively. All surviving animals were assessed using the human end-points score sheet by Morton and Griffiths, according to the recommendations of our team for experimental studies in the field of liver research [ 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 ]. Scoring and clinical evaluation of the animals were performed by an experienced veterinary technician and/or by the veterinary officer, who were not informed regarding the applied treatment or grouping to ensure a blinded assessment.…”