Topical vapocoolant spray reduces nociceptive response to ear notching in neonatal piglets

To evaluate the efficacy of a vapocoolant spray (VS) to provide local anaesthesia for piglets during ear notching.

Randomized study.

Eleven 10 day old and forty 3-5 day old Large White piglets.

Temperature validation studies using thermocouples and a temperature data logger were conducted on dead and live tissue to determine optimal spray distance and duration to reduce tissue temperature to below 10 °C. A behavioural trial was conducted to assess efficacy for ear notching. Piglets were randomly assigned to one of four treatment groups: positive control (POS; n = 10), VS (n = 10), lignocaine (LIG; n = 10) and negative control (NEG; n = 10). Spray was administered to the margin of each ear, from a distance of 10 cm, and for a duration of 2 seconds immediately prior to ear notching. Behavioural observation was used to assess movement and vocal response, with responses categorized as no response (0) and response (1).

Temperature and tissue validation studies indicated that a 2 second spray from 10 cm reduced tissue temperature to below 10 °C, and reduced response to stimulation of the skin with an 18 gauge needle (p < 0.001). There was a significant effect of treatment on response to ear notching (p < 0.001). The probability of a piglet to respond to ear notching was 98.7% for NEG piglets, compared with those treated with VS (5.3%), LIG (1.1%) and sham-notched piglets (0.9%).

This study contributes new data on the pain of ear notching in piglets. The application of a topical VS prior to ear notching reduced the antinociceptive response of piglets to the procedure, similar to that of a local anaesthetic. Cryoanaesthesia presents a simple and effective option for reducing the pain response to this simple husbandry procedure.