Refinement of Rat Vascular Access Button Implantation in Minipigs

The importance of refinement does not need to be discussed; however, it is equally important to share the advances made with the community. At times individual refinements might be small and of little impact but over time they add up and improve a procedure considerably. In this presentation, the advancements of surgical procedures performed in Göttingen Minipigs over the last few years are summed up and discussed.

Implantation of Rat Vascular Access Buttons:
This procedure was introduced with a poster at the 2018 ASR meeting. In the meantime, I have standardized the procedure with catheters in the jugular vein have implanted over 200 buttons that way. Initial incidents of incomplete ingrowth and other minor incidents could be improved upon. While the focus was on jugular vein catheters, some pilot studies were also done with catheters in the portal vein, duodenum (for dosing) and Cisterna magna (to collect CSF)