Animal models for the study of bone-derived pain

Abstract

Bone pain is a prevalent issue in society today and also is one of the hardest types of pain to control. Pain originating in the bone can be caused by many different entities including metastatic and primary neoplasm, fracture, osteoarthritis as well as numerous other metabolic disorders. In this chapter we describe the methods and protocols that currently are accepted and validated for the study of bone pain in models of metastatic cancer, bicortical fracture and osteoarthritis. These animal models provide invaluable information as to the nature of bone pain and give rise to potential new targets for its treatment and management.