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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Physiol.
Sec. Avian Physiology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fphys.2024.1437890
This article is part of the Research Topic Methods in Avian Physiology: 2023/24 View all 3 articles

Balanced anesthesia in pigeons (Columba livia): A protocol that ensures stable vital parameters and feasibility during long surgeries in cognitive neuroscience

Provisionally accepted
Abdelkader Serir Abdelkader Serir 1*John Tuff John Tuff 1Noemi Rook Noemi Rook 1Erica Fongaro Erica Fongaro 1Tim Schreiber Tim Schreiber 2Elisabeth Peus Elisabeth Peus 2Onur Güntürkün Onur Güntürkün 1Denise Manahan- Vaughan Denise Manahan- Vaughan 1Jonas Rose Jonas Rose 1Roland Pusch Roland Pusch 1
  • 1 Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
  • 2 Other, Essen, Germany

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    In neuroscience, numerous experimental procedures in animal models require surgical interventions, such as the implantation of recording electrodes or cannulas before main experiments. These surgeries can take several hours and should rely on principles that are common in the field of research and medicine. Considering the characteristics of the avian respiratory physiology, the development of a safe and replicable protocol for birds is necessary to minimize side effects of anesthetic agents, circumvent technical limitations due to the insufficient availability of patient monitoring, and to maintain stable intraoperative anesthesia. Through the consistent and responsible implementation of the three R principle of animal welfare in science ('Replace, Reduce, Refine'), we aimed to optimize experimental methods to minimize the burden on pigeons (Columba livia) during surgical procedures.Here, surgeries were conducted under balanced anesthesia and perioperative monitoring of heart rate, oxygen saturation, body temperature, and the reflex state. The protocol we developed is based on the combination of injectable and inhalative anesthetic drugs (ketamine, xylazine, and isoflurane, supported by the application of an opiate for analgesia (e.g. butorphanol, buprenorphine). The combination of ketamine and xylazine with a pain killer is established in veterinary medicine across a vast variety of species. Practicability was verified by survival of the animals, fast and smooth recovery quantified by clinical examination, sufficiency, and stability of anesthesia. Independent of painful stimuli like incision or drilling, or duration of surgery, vital parameters were within known physiological ranges for pigeons. Our approach provides a safe and conservative protocol for surgeries of extended duration for scientific applications as well as for veterinary medicine in pigeons which can be adapted to other bird species.

    Keywords: Cognitive neuroscience, Isoflurane, Ketamine-xylazine, Avian model, Avian anesthesia, surgery protocol, pigeon vital parameters

    Received: 24 May 2024; Accepted: 03 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Serir, Tuff, Rook, Fongaro, Schreiber, Peus, Güntürkün, Manahan- Vaughan, Rose and Pusch. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Abdelkader Serir, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany

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