What level of monitoring and record-keeping are expected for rodent surgery?
There is clear general consensus in relevant resources (e.g., the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (Guide), NRC 1996; Medical Records for Animals Used in Research, Teaching, and Testing: Public Statement from the American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine, ILAR 2007; Rodents: Laboratory Animal Management, NRC 1996; Research Animal Anesthesia, Analgesia and Surgery, SCAW 2007) that monitoring of rodents during surgery is critical so that animals are maintained under a surgical plane of anesthesia and that therapeutic intervention can be provided should unexpected physiological responses occur. Perioperative assessment of the physiological status (especially body temperature, but depending on other factors, also respiratory rate, heart rate, blood pressure, blood gases, ECG, etc.) and anesthetic depth are valuable metrics for this purpose. Monitoring is also key to ensuring that sound research data will ultimately be collected from the animals. The level of detail con
