Cortisol Levels and Gastrointestinal Disorders After Stressful Surgery in Rabbits

Rabbits are widely used in biomedical studies because they are docile and manageable. However, they are prone to gastrointestinal disorders due to their vulnerability to stress. Eighteen adult rabbits were used for allogenic tracheal surgery. The tracheas for allograft, 20-mm length, were transplanted into 20-mm tracheal defects. Immediately after surgery, most rabbits suffered from poor appetite. Food and water intake gradually recovered within 7 days after surgery, but six rabbits had severe anorexia from day 7 post-surgery. Four of these rabbits developed symptoms of diarrhea after surgery; three of them died several days after the onset of diarrhea, while one rabbit recovered. Gastrointestinal disorders need to be prevented in rabbits undergoing stressful surgery. Furthermore, it is important to choose the proper type and dose of analgesics in order to relieve postoperative pain. With this observation in mind, rabbits are not considered to be an appropriate model for stressful surgery.