Efficacy of a Lidocaine-Impregnated Elastrator Band for Castration and Tail Docking in Lambs

Efficacy of a Lidocaine-Impregnated Elastrator Band for Castration and Tail Docking in Lambs

The primary objective of this study was to demonstrate the non-inferiority between lidocaine-impregnated ligation bands (LLBs) and control bands (CBs) with respect to the efficacy of castration and tail docking. Secondary objectives were to compare castration and tail-docking success, evaluate local...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Animals (Basel) Vol. 14; no. 10; p. 1403
Main Authors: Roche, Steven M, Ralston, Brenda J, Olson, Barbara, Sharpe, Brendan D, Schatz, Crystal, Beaugrand, Kendall, Ross, Joseph A, Broomfield, Madeleine A, Allan, Nicolas, Olson, Merle
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01-05-2024
Subjects:
Analysis
anesthetic
Animals
Behavior
Care and treatment
elastrator
Enrollments
growth
Hormones
Lidocaine
Pain
pain control
Sheep
Statistical analysis
Testes
weight gain
Australia
Canada
United States > US
elastrator
anesthetic
growth
pain control
weight gain
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Summary:The primary objective of this study was to demonstrate the non-inferiority between lidocaine-impregnated ligation bands (LLBs) and control bands (CBs) with respect to the efficacy of castration and tail docking. Secondary objectives were to compare castration and tail-docking success, evaluate local site reactions, and compare average daily gain (ADG) between the treatment groups. A total of 238 male lambs were enrolled and randomly assigned to receive LLBs or CBs on their tail and scrotum. Lambs were weighed, had a health assessment, and the band site was observed on -3, 7, 14, 21, 28, 35, and 42 days after the bands were applied. A linear regression model was built to assess average daily gain, whereas a repeated measures model was used to evaluate body weight differences at each of the measured timepoints. Furthermore, logistic regression models were used to evaluate associations with casting outcomes. Few differences were noted between treatment groups with respect to casting success for the scrotum and tail and ADG over the entire experimental period. Non-inferiority calculations demonstrated no differences in tail docking and scrotal casting success, with casting occurring for the majority of animals by d 21 and d 42 for castration and tail docking, respectively. However, lambs receiving LLBs gained more weight from d -3 to 7 (+0.03 kg/d; 95% CI: 0 to 0.07), which may be an indication of effective pain control during the first week following band application. Overall, the use of an LLB does not affect the time to successful casting of the tail and could improve short-term growth when compared to a control band. Further studies are needed to compare LLBs to multimodal methods of pain relief.
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ISSN:2076-2615
2076-2615
DOI:10.3390/ani14101403