Table 3 Guidelines to refine experimental surgical procedures involving rabbits modified from Stokes et al. 2009 [9].

   (1) Analgesic administration

Administer at least one dose of systemic analgesia to all rabbits undergoing recovery surgical procedures that are likely to be painful

Dobromylskj et al. [20], Kohn et al. [18]

Consider the use of multimodal analgesia when pain is likely to be moderate to severe

Committee on Recognition and Alleviation of Pain in Laboratory Animals [14], Dobromylskj et al. [20], Flecknell [13], Kohn et al. [18]

Consider the use of preemptive analgesia

Match analgesic administration (dose rate, dose intervals and duration of administration) to the severity of the procedure

   (2) Reporting of experimental procedures involving rabbits

Authors should include more information on analgesia and pain assessment in methods of peer-reviewed publications

Hawkins [21]

In editorial policies/'Instructions to authors' editors should request that analgesic administration be specified and if analgesics were withheld to explain why

Hawkins [21], Richardson and Flecknell [22]

Report animal details in sufficient detail

Smith et al.[16]

   (3) Future research

Future research into effective pain assessment in rabbits

Leach et al.[23]