Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 20, 2026

Digital Planimetry for Assessing Wound Closure Kinetics in a Mouse Model
07:56

Digital Planimetry for Assessing Wound Closure Kinetics in a Mouse Model

Published on: January 10, 2025

Assessing cervical dislocation as a humane euthanasia method in mice.

Larry Carbone1, Elizabeth T Carbone, Elizabeth M Yi

  • 1Laboratory Animal Resource Center, University of California-San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA. larry.carbone@ucsf.edu

Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science : JAALAS
|July 11, 2012
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Discovery of a Thermostable Nigerose Phosphorylase for the Efficient Chemoenzymatic Radiosynthesis of a <i>S. aureus</i>-Targeted <sup>18</sup>F-Disaccharide.

Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine·2026
Same author

Evaluation of radiation damage effects of low-energy Auger and conversion electrons emitted by <sup>134</sup>Ce decay using a Monte Carlo method.

Scientific reports·2026
Same author

Tumor response and tolerability under fractionated x-ray irradiation in a mouse xenograft model.

Physics in medicine and biology·2026
Same author

A Prodrug Strategy to Conditionally Trap Therapeutic Payloads for Improved Tumor Retention.

ACS central science·2026
Same author

Pair production tomography enables imaging of MeV-scale gamma-emitting theranostic radionuclides.

Research square·2026
Same author

Pre-clinical SPECT and SPECT-CT in Oncology.

Recent results in cancer research. Fortschritte der Krebsforschung. Progres dans les recherches sur le cancer·2026
Same journal

A Brief Overview of Colitis Cystica Profunda and Potential Animal Models.

Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science : JAALAS·2026
Same journal

Collaboration between Human and Veterinary Research and Medical Experts Could Provide a Balanced Discussion on the Ethics of Using Animals in Research.

Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science : JAALAS·2026
Same journal

Analysis of IVC Microenvironments During an Extended Cage-Change Interval in Rats (Rattus norvegicus).

Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science : JAALAS·2026
Same journal

Letter to the Editor: Contemporary Concerns Regarding Laboratory Animal Feed.

Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science : JAALAS·2026
Same journal

Machine Learning in Nonhuman Primate Models of Infectious Diseases: Current Applications and Future Perspectives.

Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science : JAALAS·2026
Same journal

Performance Validated 8-Week Sanitation Interval for Mouse (Mus musculus) Wire-Bar Lids: ATP and CFU Outcomes.

Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science : JAALAS·2026
See all related articles

Cervical dislocation (CD) in mice can be an unsuccessful euthanasia method, with anesthesia aiding training and assessment. Postmortem radiography shows limited value for quality control in mouse euthanasia.

Area of Science:

  • Veterinary Medicine
  • Animal Welfare Science

Background:

  • Cervical dislocation (CD) is a common method for mouse euthanasia, approved by the AVMA Panel on Euthanasia in 1972.
  • Despite its widespread use, scientific assessments of the humaneness and efficacy of CD have been limited.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To compare the efficacy of three cervical dislocation (CD) methods and one thoracic spinal dislocation method in inducing respiratory arrest in anesthetized mice.
  • To evaluate the utility of postmortem radiography in assessing the success of euthanasia and identifying spinal lesions.

Main Methods:

  • Four spinal dislocation methods were tested on anesthetized mice: three targeting the cervical region and one targeting the thoracic region.
  • Euthanasia success was determined by the time to respiratory arrest.
  • Postmortem radiography was used to identify spinal lesions in both successfully and unsuccessfully euthanized mice.

More Related Videos

A Controlled Mouse Model for Neonatal Polymicrobial Sepsis
14:54

A Controlled Mouse Model for Neonatal Polymicrobial Sepsis

Published on: January 27, 2019

Inducing Meningococcal Meningitis Serogroup C in Mice via Intracisternal Delivery
10:03

Inducing Meningococcal Meningitis Serogroup C in Mice via Intracisternal Delivery

Published on: November 5, 2019

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 20, 2026

Digital Planimetry for Assessing Wound Closure Kinetics in a Mouse Model
07:56

Digital Planimetry for Assessing Wound Closure Kinetics in a Mouse Model

Published on: January 10, 2025

A Controlled Mouse Model for Neonatal Polymicrobial Sepsis
14:54

A Controlled Mouse Model for Neonatal Polymicrobial Sepsis

Published on: January 27, 2019

Inducing Meningococcal Meningitis Serogroup C in Mice via Intracisternal Delivery
10:03

Inducing Meningococcal Meningitis Serogroup C in Mice via Intracisternal Delivery

Published on: November 5, 2019

Main Results:

  • Of 81 mice undergoing CD, 17 (21%) experienced unsuccessful euthanasia, with 5 showing cervical spinal lesions.
  • Successful CD euthanasia (64 mice) consistently showed radiographic lesions in the cervical or atlantooccipital region (63/64 mice).
  • Thoracic dislocation failed to induce respiratory arrest in all 18 mice tested, and postmortem radiography had minimal promise for quality control.

Conclusions:

  • Cervical dislocation (CD) in mice has a significant potential for unsuccessful euthanasia.
  • Anesthesia may be beneficial for training and assessing CD techniques.
  • Postmortem radiography is not a reliable tool for quality control assessment of CD euthanasia.