[Further studies of swine reaction to fixation with a maxillary sling based on metabolic and hematologic parameters]

The effects of five-minute fixation by means of maxillary sling (pig catcher) on the behaviour of various blood and blood plasma components were recorded from eleven purebred Piétrain pigs. Blood was taken through indwelling catheter from the jugular vein and up to 60 minutes after the beginning of restraint. Exposure of the animals to such psychomotor stress led to maximum rise of lactate levels by 53 mg/100 ml on average as well as to increase in glucose by 37 mg/100 ml, haemoglobin concentration by 2.3 g/100 ml, and haematocrit by 9.7 per cent. Concentrations of free fatty acids in blood plasma, on the other hand, dropped with significance during stress, that is by the order of 111 mumol/l. No significant changes in glycerin were recordable. The values returned to their initial levels within 60 minutes from the end of fixation.