Abstract
Purpose:To modify a surgical catheterization method using the bent needle introducer in small animals.Methods:Eight-week-old male Lewis rats were used in the study. A needle introducer was created by bending a 21G injection needle at 45°. The bent needle introducer was used for catheter insertion into the left femoral artery of the rats under anesthesia. As a control, a catheter was directly inserted into the blood vessel without the introducer. The insertion time of each method was measured. Blood pressure and heart rate were measured 24 h after catheter insertion using the telemetry system.Results:Using the introducer, the catheter was successfully inserted within a short time in all rats. Without the introducer, a longer duration was required for catheter insertion. The frequency of the insertion with no catheter-based errors with the introducer tended to be higher than that without the introducer. The mean arterial pressure and heart rate 24 h after catheter insertion in each group were almost the same.Conclusions:We developed a surgical catheterization method using the introducer in small animals. This could potentially reduce the frequency of the insertion with catheter-based errors and insertion time.
Highlights
Monitoring the vital signs in safety pharmacology studies using rodents under unanesthetized and unconstrained conditions is essential to determine the effectiveness and side effects of the drugs[1,2,3,4].Telemetry systems are widely used for collecting the physiologic parameters from the awake and freely moving small animals as stabilized data[5]
Catheters were directly inserted into the blood vessel of rats using standard microscale forceps without the aid of the bent needle introducer
The rats were individually housed in separate cages, and the condition of the wound was observed until the measurement of blood pressure and heart rate
Summary
Telemetry systems are widely used for collecting the physiologic parameters (e.g., blood pressure and heart rate) from the awake and freely moving small animals as stabilized data[5]. For operating such telemetry systems, the surgeons must possess microsurgical expertise to insert a catheter in the blood vessels of a small animal and to maintain this system over time. This study aimed to analyze the protocol for simplifying the insertion of a catheter into a blood vessel using a bent needle introducer, a commercially available injection needle whose tip has a gradual curve
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