Advances in Anaesthesia and Analgesia for Laboratory Animals-Current Practices and Future Directions: A Review

Laboratory animal anaesthesia and analgesia are essential for ethical research, balancing welfare with scientific rigor. This review synthesizes historical practices and contemporary innovations to refine perioperative care. We evaluate the shift to inhalant/hybrid protocols for precision and compliance with the 3Rs (Replacement, Reduction, Refinement). Advancements include multimodal pain assessment (e.g., rat grimace scale) and technology-driven monitoring, enhancing detection of pain masked by anaesthesia. Innovations address physiological challenges like hypothermia and species-specific responses. Interdisciplinary One Health collaborations foster sustainable practices and translational biomarker discovery. However, barriers persist, including resource disparities, understudied chronic pain models and slow technology adoption, highlighting the need for global standardization. Case studies illustrate successes with pre-emptive analgesia and failures from outdated protocols. Practical recommendations include perioperative checklists and institutional training to harmonize welfare and research goals. Prioritizing animal welfare is fundamental to scientific excellence, urging innovation, equity and transparency.