Basic Surgical Techniques in the Gottingen Minipig: Intubation, Bladder Catheterization, Femoral Vessel Catheterization, and Transcardial Perfusion

The emergence of the Gottingen minipig in research of topics such as neuroscience, toxicology, diabetes, obesity, and experimental surgery reflects the close resemblance of these animals to human anatomy and physiology(1-6). The size of the Gottingen minipig permits the use of surgical equipment and advanced imaging modalities similar to those used in humans(6-8). The aim of this instructional video is to increase the awareness on the value of minipigs in biomedical research, by demonstrating how to perform tracheal intubation, transurethral bladder catheterization, femoral artery and vein catheterization, as well as transcardial perfusion. Endotracheal Intubation should be performed whenever a minipig undergoes general anesthesia, because it maintains a patent airway, permits assisted ventilation and protects the airways from aspirates. Transurethral bladder catheterization can provide useful information about about hydration state as well as renal and cardiovascular function during long surgical procedures. Furthermore, urinary catheterization can prevent contamination of delicate medico-technical equipment and painful bladder extension which may harm the animal and unnecessarily influence the experiment due to increased vagal tone and altered physiological parameters. Arterial and venous catheterization is useful for obtaining repeated blood samples and monitoring various physiological parameters. Catheterization of femoral vessels is preferable to catheterization of the neck vessels for ease of access, when performing experiments involving frame-based stereotaxic neurosurgery and brain imaging. When performing vessel catheterization in survival studies, strict aseptic technique must be employed to avoid infections(6). Transcardial perfusion is the most effective fixation method, and yields preeminent results when preparing minipig organs for histology and histochemistry(2,9). For more information about anesthesia, surgery and experimental techniques in swine in general we refer to Swindle 2007. Supplementary information about premedication and induction of anesthesia, assisted ventilation, analgesia, pre- and postoperative care of Gottingen minipigs are available via the internet at http://www.minipigs.com(10). For extensive information about porcine anatomy we refer to Nickel et al. Vol. 1-5(11).