Evidence-based refinements for procedures with rodents
Refinements:
Flexible feeding tubes for oral dosing are an animal welfare refinement over rigid metal tubes which have been shown to cause significantly more esophageal inflammation as seen in this study from Bristol Myers Squibb. Plastic gavage needles (seen here) are flexible to reduce the risk of trauma to the esophagus, translucent to visualize delivery, and disposable to eliminate the cost of cleaning and the chance of compound crossover
Micropipette-guided Drug Administration can be used instead of gavage. Mice can be trained to drink medicated fluids which can remove the need for oral gavage from the study (video here)
Refinements:
Vascular Access Buttons™ are the preferred method of catheter exteriorization for mice (one or two catheters) and rats (one to four catheters). They offer many advantages such as low-stress and hands-off sampling and infusion, the possibility of group housing after surgery, and extended catheter patency duration. The Vascular Access Button™ has been used for many applications aside from blood sampling and infusion including bile duct collection, organ or subcutaneous infusion, glucose clamping, and has been used successfully with ferrets, rabbits, mini-pigs, and other small rodents
Provides a way to group house the animals, reduce their stress, and improve data
If a chronic study requires access to the vascular system and the catheter patency is suboptimal, more animals will unnecessarily need to undergo surgery and be enrolled
Refinements: