title: A laryngoscope designed for intubation of the rat.
abstract: We successfully intubated 257 rats with a laryngoscope that we designed for this purpose. Orotracheal intubation with this laryngoscope can be performed quickly and without harm to the animal. This instrument provides direct visualization of the vocal cords, allowing rapid, safe intubation of the rat. Maintenance of an adequate airway with endotracheal intubation is superior to tracheostomy for repeated experiments, and therefore this laryngoscope makes such studies easier and safer to perform.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40292, USA.
authors.forename: R D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Linden
authors.forename: C B
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Shields
authors.forename: Y P
authors.initials: YP
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: H L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Edmonds
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Hunt
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004867:Equipment Design; D005336:Fiber Optic Technology; D007442:Intubation, Intratracheal / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000662:veterinary*; D020704:Laryngoscopes / Q000662:veterinary*; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013997:Time Factors