Thomas Svava Nielsen

SGV Meeting 2026 · Scientific Programme

CHUV, Lausanne

• 25 November 2026 · 16:30Trauma, Pain, and Infections – the Importance of Good Surgical Practice in Rodent Surgery
  Abstract

  Surgery in rodents is challenging, and specialized skills, training and experience are required to establish a reliable and reproducible surgical model. It requires knowledge of anatomy and physiology, and a broad understanding of good surgical practice, including asepsis, reduction of trauma, hemostasis, anesthesia, and analgesia. Yet, in preclinical rodent research, proper surgical training is often replaced by a chain of peer training where inexperienced staff members learn a surgical procedure from more experienced coworkers, who themselves were once trained by coworkers. This learning strategy is prone to propagation of procedural mistakes and faulty assumptions leading to unnecessary animal suffering, poor surgical outcomes, and, ultimately, unreliable research data.

  Exemplified by the unpublished reality behind the optimization and refinement of a dual-catheter infusion/sampling model in mice, this presentation will demonstrate the limitations of the peer training strategy and show how reliable and reproducible experimental outcomes in rodent research are critically dependent on good surgical practice and proper aseptic technique. It will be shown how training, optimization, and meticulous attention to detail lead to improved animal welfare, substantial reductions in animal usage numbers, and more robust and reproducible research data.