Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
How well the Feline Grimace Scale works to assess pain in kittens
By Cheng, Alice J et al.·Published in Journal of feline medicine and surgery·2023·Department of Clinical Sciences, Canada·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Construct validity, responsiveness and reliability of the Feline Grimace Scale in kittens.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of 36 healthy female kittens, aged 10 weeks to 6 months, were observed to assess their pain levels before and after a spay surgery. Researchers used the Feline Grimace Scale, which looks at facial expressions to determine pain, and found that the kittens showed higher pain scores after surgery compared to before. When they received pain relief medication, their pain scores decreased significantly. This study confirms that the Feline Grimace Scale is a reliable way to measure pain in kittens, helping veterinarians better understand and manage their discomfort.
People also search for: kitten pain after spay surgery · how to tell if my kitten is in pain · pain relief for kittens after surgery
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: The aim of the present study was to investigate the construct validity, responsiveness and reliability of the Feline Grimace Scale (FGS) in kittens. METHODS: A total of 36 healthy female kittens (aged 10 weeks to 6 months) were included in a prospective, randomized, blinded study. Video recordings of all kittens were made before and 1 and 2 h after ovariohysterectomy using an opioid-free injectable anesthetic protocol with or without multimodal analgesia. Additional recordings were taken before and 1 h after administration of rescue analgesia (buprenorphine 0.02 mg/kg IM) to painful kittens. Screenshots of facial images were collected from the video recordings for FGS scoring. Four observers blinded to treatment groups and time points scored 111 randomized images twice with a 5-week interval using the FGS. Five action units (AUs) were scored (ear position, orbital tightening, muzzle tension, whiskers position and head position; 0-2 each). Construct validity, responsiveness, and inter- and intra-rater reliability were evaluated using linear models with Benjamini-Hochberg correction, Wilcoxon signed-rank test and single intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC), respectively (<0.05). RESULTS: FGS total ratio scores were higher at 1 and 2 h after ovariohysterectomy (median [interquartile range, IQR]: 0.30 [0.20-0.40] and 0.30 [0.20-0.40], respectively) than at baseline (median [IQR]: 0.10 [0.00-0.30]) (<0.001). FGS total ratio scores were lower after the administration of rescue analgesia (median [IQR] before and after rescue analgesia) 0.40 [0.20-0.50] and 0.20 [0.10-0.38], respectively (<0.001). Inter-rater ICCwas 0.68 for the FGS total ratio scores and 0.35-0.70 for all AUs considered individually. Intra-rater ICCwas 0.77-0.91 for the FGS total ratio scores and 0.55-1.00 for all AUs considered individually. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: The FGS is a valid and responsive acute pain-scoring instrument with moderate inter-rater reliability and good to excellent intra-rater reliability in kittens.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38095930/