Feasibility of pair-housing of rats after cranial implant surgery.
Judith EversKarthik SridharMadeleine LoweryPublished in: Laboratory animals (2022)
Rat models employing cranial implants are increasingly employed to facilitate neural stimulation and recording in freely moving animals. Due to possible damage to wound, implant or attached devices, rats with cranial implants are traditionally housed singly, and little information is available on group- or pair-housing. Here we describe a protocol for pair-housing rats following cranial implant surgery and describe our experience with pair-housing during post-surgical recovery and up to 16 weeks following surgery.Thirty-six adult Wistar rats of both sexes were implanted with deep brain stimulation electrodes. Ten rats were equipped with an additional wireless headstage. Rats were housed in stable pairs before surgery and re-introduced 0-18 h post-surgery. Rat grimace scores did not indicate pain after conclusion of the analgesia protocol, physiological parameters were in the normal range three days post-surgery and weight loss did not exceed 10%. Rats with a cement cap only were pair-housed continuously without damage to the headcap. Rats carrying an additional fragile headstage had to be separated during lights-off periods to prevent headstage damage but could be pair-housed during lights-on periods.Pair-housing is a feasible and effective method to facilitate the rats' need for social companionship following cranial implant surgery.
Keyphrases
- minimally invasive
- coronary artery bypass
- surgical site infection
- deep brain stimulation
- oxidative stress
- mental illness
- randomized controlled trial
- weight loss
- soft tissue
- bariatric surgery
- percutaneous coronary intervention
- mental health
- pain management
- obsessive compulsive disorder
- body mass index
- spinal cord injury
- parkinson disease
- health information
- spinal cord
- ultrasound guided