IV. Specific Experimental Procedures

These guidelines apply to all surgical procedures performed on rodents at the College of Charleston in which the animals are expected to recover from anesthesia). Survival surgery on rodents should be performed using sterile instruments, surgical gloves, masks and aseptic procedures, to reduce microbial contamination of exposed tissues to the lowest practical level. Minor surgical procedures such as wound suturing and peripheral vessel cannulation should be performed in accordance with standard veterinary practices. Specific procedures to accomplish these guidelines can be obtained from your veterinarian.

NIH/ARAC Guidelines for Survival Rodent Surgery (A compact disk with depictions and expanded explanations of the methods recommended in these guidelines is available by sending a request to rodentcd@od.nih.gov)

Surgical Procedures

Pre-Operative:

• Surgery should be conducted in a disinfected (Table 1), uncluttered area which promotes asepsis during surgery.
• Prepare the animal by removing hair from the surgical site. Perform this procedure in an area separate from where the surgery is to be conducted.
• Prepare the surgical site(s) with an appropriate skin disinfectant (Table 2).
• Surgeons should wash and dry their hands before aseptically donning sterile surgical gloves.

Table 1. Recommended Hard Surface Disinfectants (e.g., table tops, equipment)

* The use of common brand names as examples does not indicate a product endorsement.

Table 2. Recommended Skin Disinfectants

* The use of common brand names as examples does not indicate a product endorsement.

Operative:

• The animal must be maintained in a surgical plane of anesthesia throughout the procedure.
• Begin surgery with sterile instruments (Table 3) and handle them aseptically.
• Instruments and gloves may be used for a series of similar surgeries provided they are maintained clean and disinfected (Table 4) between animals.
• Monitor and/or maintain the animal's vital signs.
• Close surgical wounds using appropriate techniques and materials (Table 5).
  • Suture gauge selection - Use the smallest gauge suture material that will perform adequately.
  • Cutting and reverse cutting needles - Provide edges that will cut through dense, difficult to penetrate tissue, such as skin.
  • Non-cutting, taper point or round needles - Have no edges to cut through tissue; used primarily for suturing easily torn tissues such as peritoneum or intestine.

Table 3. Recommended Instrument Sterilants

* The use of common brand names as examples does not indicate a product endorsement.

Table 4. Recommended Instrument Disinfectants

** Always follow manufacturer's instructions.

Table 5. Recommended Wound Closure Selection

* The use of common brand names as examples does not indicate a product endorsement.

Post-Operative:

• Move the animal to a warm, dry area and monitor it during recovery. Return the animal to its routine housing only after it has fully recovered from anesthesia.
• Provide analgesics as appropriate.
• Generally, remove skin closures 10 to 14 days post-operatively.
• Maintain a surgical record (e.g., annotate cage card with procedure and date; recording the body weight on the day of surgery is strongly recommended.)

Approved: April 5, 2001

Revised:  April 19, 2001

Revised:  September 11, 2001

Reviewed:  August 24, 2012