![]() This led to suggestions in the 1960s and 70s that aseptic technique was unnecessary in rodents, and this was reflected in very poor standards. However, in contrast to other species, rodents rarely develop obvious signs of wound infection and the signs associated with infection are often subtle. We know that similar numbers of bacteria are needed to establish wound infections in rodents and other species (including people) and some procedures such as implanting catheters in blood vessels have an earlier failure rate if good asepsis is not observed. We do, however, have a great deal of evidence in other species that aseptic technique – reducing to a minimum any contamination of the surgical site with micro-organisms – is essential to prevent post-operative wound infections. When operating on twenty or more animals in a single session, this would introduce considerable resourcing issues and, not surprisingly, those conducting the procedure might ask for evidence of the benefit of this recommendation.Īnd here’s the problem – we lack robust scientific data, obtained in rodents, to support these measures. The surgeon would also need to change their gloves and perhaps their surgical gown. The obvious alternative to using a hot bead steriliser is to have a separate set of sterilised instruments for each animal – and of course a clean sterile drape. ![]() My first reaction to this rumour was “good, but what are they suggesting as an alternative, and will they also make mandatory some of the more important recommendations in their last guidance note?” However, since it is only the instrument tips that are sterilised there are concerns that this compromises measures taken to keep to an absolute minimum the risk of infection of the surgical wound. This is useful when undertaking surgery on several rodents in succession, so called ‘batch surgery’, to allow decontamination of the instrument tips between successive animals. For those of you unfamiliar with this device, it is designed to sterilise the tips of surgical instruments by rapidly heating them to over 200 oC. Paul is a world renowned laboratory animal veterinarian who specialises in anaesthesia and analgesia.Ī rumour circulated recently amongst UK lab animal veterinarians that the Home Office Inspectorate (the UK regulator for animal procedures) intended to ban the use of hot bead sterilisers.
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