title: A model for biliary and vascular access in the unanesthetized, unrestrained rat.
abstract: Conventional methods for vascular access and bile collection in the rat, such as the isolated perfused liver, study under anesthesia, and animal restraint, do not allow study of a physiologically intact rat. A simple technique for vascular access and monitoring of biliary secretions in the intact, unrestrained, unanesthetized rat for extended periods of time is described. Sample experiments demonstrated a 20% complication rate and an 85% 24-hour survival. This model may prove useful in studies requiring chronic vascular and visceral catheterization in the awake rat.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710.
authors.forename: R E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Epstein
authors.forename: G D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Branum
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cucchiaro
authors.forename: W C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Meyers
mesh_terms: D000758:Anesthesia; D000818:Animals; D001646:Bile / Q000502:physiology*; D001659:Biliary Tract / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D001808:Blood Vessels / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D002404:Catheterization; D008297:Male; D008954:Models, Biological; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D012149:Restraint, Physical