The pharmacology of pain relief and sedation in pigs has advanced considerably, providing tools to prevent and treat pain from routine husbandry procedures, disease, and injury in both farm and research contexts.
Pig pharmacology advances have outpaced their adoption in commercial practice, creating a gap between available welfare tools and actual pain management on farms. The licensing of oral meloxicam for pigs is a significant advance because it enables group treatment without individual handling stress — but farmer uptake varies considerably by region and producer attitude. The most significant welfare pharmacology gap remains in castration, where the combination of local anesthesia and systemic analgesia provides near-complete pain control but is not mandated in most jurisdictions. Chronic pain management in commercial pigs — where lameness, wound injuries, and disease create sustained discomfort — requires veterinary engagement with herd health programs and stockperson training to identify and treat affected individuals. Regulatory mandates for analgesic use during painful procedures are the most effective intervention for widespread improvement.