In reviewing the scenario, we believe the following conclusions and observations can be made. First, Hendricks' protocol was approved as Category D by the IACUC. Second, Hendricks claims that he followed every detail of his protocol, including administering anesthesia and analgesia with the proper dosages as prescribed by the attending veterinarian. Third, the technicians in his laboratory (which have been properly trained) carried out the procedure and administered postoperative analgesics as described in the protocol with proper dosages. All observations were documented, but the technicians did not promptly notify the veterinarian that the analgesic did not fully alleviate the animals' postoperative pain.

The concern here is that if the technicians were properly trained, they should have notified the veterinarian immediately that the animals were experiencing postoperative pain. The fact that they did not suggests that there may be a lack of training.

The veterinarian responded by administering additional analgesic and instructing Hendricks to alert the IACUC that the postoperative analgesic dose for the guinea pigs needed to be increased on all future surgeries. The protocol should be amended to reflect the correct dosage.

The fact remains that the animals were in pain for a period of time. The incident needs to be documented to the IACUC as a reportable incident. The investigator should report what happened, the initial actions taken by the technicians, the reasons that the technicians did not alert the veterinarian immediately if they thought the guinea pigs were in pain and the actions taken by the attending veterinarian. Documentation that the additional dosage of postoperative analgesia alleviates the animals' pain should be provided to the IACUC. Whether the incident is reportable to OLAW should be decided by the IACUC, on the basis of the duration and severity of the animals' pain.

Training should be given to the technicians regarding appropriate post-surgical care for guinea pigs, particularly on recognition of the severity of post-surgical pain and immediate notification to the attending veterinarian. Documentation should also be provided that the proper amount of analgesic was given in future surgeries and that there were no further incidents of pain in the guinea pigs.

Hendricks has a valid point. The decision of the IACUC should be that the guinea pigs remain in Category D with a documented incident of inadequate dosage of post-surgical analgesic and a mandatory retraining of the technicians.

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