Best practices in preclinical algesiometry (pain behaviour testing) have shifted over the past decade as a result of technological advancements, the continued dearth of translational progress and the emphasis that funding institutions and journals have placed on rigour and reproducibility. Here we describe the changing trends in research methods by analysing the methods reported in preclinical pain publications from the past 40 years, with a focus on the last 5 years. We also discuss how the status quo may be hampering translational success. This discussion is centred on four fundamental decisions that apply to every pain behaviour experiment: choice of subject (model organism), choice of assay (pain-inducing injury), laboratory environment and choice of outcome measures. Finally, we discuss how human tissues, which are increasingly accessible, can be used to validate the translatability of targets and mechanisms identified in animal pain models.

由于技术进步、转化进展持续缺乏以及资助机构和期刊对严谨性和可重复性的重视，临床前痛觉测量（疼痛行为测试）的最佳实践在过去十年中发生了变化。在这里，我们通过分析过去 40 年（重点是过去 5 年）临床前疼痛出版物中报道的方法来描述研究方法的变化趋势。我们还讨论了现状如何阻碍转化成功。本讨论集中于适用于每个疼痛行为实验的四个基本决策：受试者（模型生物）的选择、测定的选择（疼痛诱导损伤）、实验室环境和结果测量的选择。最后，我们讨论如何使用越来越容易获得的人体组织来验证动物疼痛模型中确定的目标和机制的可翻译性。