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A technique for administering xenon gas anesthesia during surgical procedures in mice

Lab Animal volume 43, pages 405–409 (2014)Cite this article

Abstract

Carrying out invasive procedures in animals requires the administration of anesthesia. Xenon gas offers advantages as an anesthetic agent compared with other agents, such as its protection of the brain and heart from hypoxia-induced damage. The high cost of xenon gas has limited its use as an anesthetic in animal experiments, however. The authors designed and constructed simple boxes for the induction and maintenance of xenon gas and isoflurane anesthesia in small rodents in order to minimize the amount of xenon gas that is wasted. While using their anesthesia delivery system to anesthetize pregnant mice undergoing caesarean sections, they measured the respiratory rates of the anesthetized mice, the survival of the pups and the percentages of oxygen and carbon dioxide within the system to confirm the system's safety.

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Figure 1: Measurement of xenon gas volume in a water container.
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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by an EU Era-Net Neuron grant to M.A.R. and P.G. We thank Carsten Pilger, PhD, for his excellent technical advice, and Dieter Köhler, PhD, for his participation in many inspiring and fruitful discussions.

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Author notes

  1. Arne Mathias Ruder and Michaela Schmidt: These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany

    Arne Mathias Ruder,  Michaela Schmidt &  Peter Gass

  2. Department of Pharmacological Sciences, Centre of Neuropharmacology, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy

    Alessia Ludiro &  Marco A. Riva

Authors
  1. Arne Mathias Ruder
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  2. Michaela Schmidt
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  3. Alessia Ludiro
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Correspondence to Michaela Schmidt.

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Ruder, A., Schmidt, M., Ludiro, A. et al. A technique for administering xenon gas anesthesia during surgical procedures in mice. Lab Anim 43, 405–409 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/laban.591

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