Refinement of Tissue-Engineering Chamber Implantation in the Rat

Rodent in vivo models that successfully generate new adipose, muscle, or vascular tissue in a tissue-engineering chamber (TEC) has advanced in the last decade. In this article, technical refinements in these operative foreign body implantations have been described to improve the execution of animal models in a way so that they can reduce wastage of time and resources.

Male Sprague-Dawley rats were studied and randomly divided into two equal sized groups. In each group, a different operative procedure was used for implanting the TEC. Twenty animals were operated with diagonal incisions in the groin region, followed by staples for wound closure after TEC implantation. The remaining 20 animals received longitudinal incisions in the abdominal region followed by wound closure with ongoing intradermal nonresorbable sutures and skin glue. The outcome of both procedures with regard to complications, animal growth, and experimental failure was compared. Statistical analysis was performed using the nonparametric chi-squared (χ²) test.

Significant difference in wound dehiscence was recorded in Group I as compared to Group II (p = 0.0001). Consequently, 55% of the experiments had to be aborted in Group I and the animals were removed from the experiment. On the contrary, in Group II, all the animals could be kept.

Median longitudinal incisions and thorough wound closure with ongoing intradermal nonresorbable sutures, followed by application of skin glue, are strongly recommended to prevent surgical site complications, such as wound dehiscence, animal harm, and failure of the individual experiment.