Painful animal husbandry procedures are routinely performed in a range of livestock species without
analgesia. Recently, innovative strategies have been developed to address
wound pain in these animals. In particular, a farmer-applied "spray and stay" approach that is administered directly to open
wounds was developed (Tri-Solfen® Medical Ethics Pty Ltd., Melbourne, Victoria, Australia). This strategy anaesthetises the
wounds immediately upon their formation, with long-lasting effect. This development, described as a "
pain management revolution," has become firmly established in the Australian livestock industries and has global potential. The positive outcomes of this approach provide insights and highlight potential benefits that may be accrued from its use in human
wound care, providing rapid-onset
wound analgesia and/or anaesthetising
wounds prior to cleansing and
debridement procedures. If these benefits are realised from a clinician and patient perspective for
wound debridement as an initial indication, it could provide new horizons in
pain management for a spectrum of
wound-related procedures. Evidence from use in animal husbandry does support the concept that multimodal anaesthesia holds great potential in the field of
wound management across many procedures.