Objective: To validate the Zürich Composite Measure Pain Scale (ZCMPS) for assessing postoperative pain in cattle undergoing abomasal displacement surgery. Study design: Prospective, randomised, blinded study. Animals: A total of 14 video recordings from 11 cows that underwent laparotomy for abomasal displacement were included. Methods: A group of six veterinarians with different levels of experience independently assessed the 14 videos. Videos were recorded 2, 6, 12 or 24 hours after surgery. The study consisted of four phases: training and phases I, II and III. In phases I and II, observers scored pain using the ZCMPS. In phase III, they applied a visual analogue scale (VAS) and indicated whether rescue analgesia was required (no/yes) based on clinical judgement. Real-time scoring by two additional observers was used for comparison against video-based assessments. Statistical analyses included intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) for inter- and intra-observer reliability, Spearman correlation between ZCMPS and VAS, Mann-Whitney U tests for video versus real-time scoring and receiver operating characteristic curve analysis to evaluate the ability of the ZCMPS to identify cows requiring analgesia. Conclusions and clinical relevance: The ZCMPS is a reliable and valid tool for assessing abdominal pain in cattle with abomasal displacement. It can be used by observers with varying experience levels.
Bühlmann et al. (Thu,) studied this question.