Continuous rat intravenous infusion

Hypovolemic shock and ischemic injury to the graft commonly cause death in small animals after organ transplantation. A venous line must be readily available to replace fluids before fatal complications occur. To establish a venous line, researchers expose a vein by preliminary surgery. This time-consuming procedure adds unnecessary trauma to the recipient and worsens the results. The possibility of long-term fluid transfusion in small animals by serial injections at close intervals is quite limited. We describe a simple technique of continuous i.v. infusion by catheterization of the rat dorsal penile vein with a 24-gauge, 3/4-inch catheter. This easy-to-learn technique has permitted us to establish a venous line quickly without trauma in 148 rats while doing donor and recipient procedures for small bowel and ileocecal segment transplantation. The technique we describe has eliminated one of the most frequent causes of postoperative mortality after organ transplantation-hypovolemic shock. We would like to emphasize that other measures, including avoiding massive bleeding and reducing operative and warm ischemic time, are also very important in preventing this complication. The massive i.v. infusion alone may not totally eliminate hypovolemic shock if other factors are neglected. The use of this technique has allowed us to perform small bowel transplantation with 90% success.