A guide to reducing adverse outcomes in rabbit models of sciatic nerve injury

Elisabeth Orozco,Sameer B Shah,Koichi Masuda

doi:10.1186/s42826-021-00085-1

Abstract

BackgroundPeripheral nerve damage can have debilitating consequences. Rabbit sciatic nerve transection models allow the effective evaluation of surgical repair strategies for large nerve gaps. Despite advantages in size, ease of handling, and functional utility, rabbits can suffer from a number of side effects that affect animal welfare and the quality of scientific inquiry. Such side-effects, which include pressure ulcers and traumatic damage to the foot, are primarily a consequence of insensitivity of the distal hindlimb following sciatic nerve injury. In this study, we present a number of methodologies for identifying, treating, and preventing unintended adverse effects in rabbit sciatic nerve injury models.ResultsFirst, we categorize pressure ulcers according to their severity and describe the deployment of a padded bandaging technique to enable ulcer healing. We also introduce a proactive bandaging approach to reduce the likelihood of pressure ulcer formation. Second, we define phenotypes that distinguish between foot injuries resulting from self-mutilation (autotomy) from those caused by incidental traumatic injury secondary to sensori-motor damage. Finally, we detail an effective strategy to reduce the usage of Elizabethan collars; through a gradual weaning protocol, their usefulness in preventing autotomy is retained, while their propensity to impede rabbit grooming and cause abrasion-injury to the neck region is minimized.ConclusionsWe suggest that application of these methods offer a practical and systematic approach to avoid adverse side effects associated with rabbit sciatic nerve damage, enabling improved animal welfare and scientific outcomes in a powerful nerve injury model.

Highlights

Peripheral nerve damage can have debilitating consequences
We developed a semi-quantitative scale to score the severity of the pressure ulcer (Table 2, Fig. 2a-f)
Influence of bandaging on pressure ulcer formation There was a significant difference in pressure ulcer formation between rabbits that were pre-bandaged and rabbits that were bandaged 3 weeks post-surgery, with pre-bandaging markedly reducing the likelihood of ulcer formation (Table 1, Fig. 1; χ2 = 16.18, p < 0.05, N = 22, 3 degrees of freedom)

Summary

Introduction

Peripheral nerve damage can have debilitating consequences. Rabbit sciatic nerve transection models allow the effective evaluation of surgical repair strategies for large nerve gaps. Ease of handling, and functional utility, rabbits can suffer from a number of side effects that affect animal welfare and the quality of scientific inquiry Such side-effects, which include pressure ulcers and traumatic damage to the foot, are primarily a consequence of insensitivity of the distal hindlimb following sciatic nerve injury. Porcine and non-human primate models represent the goldstandard with respect to simulating the size, anatomy and physiology of human nerves, and are used in translational or late-stage pre-clinical research [10,11,12] These models are costly and require highly specialized laboratory facilities and veterinary care; they are comparatively impractical

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