Laparoscopic animal surgery for training without sacrificing animals; introducing the rabbit as a model for infantile laparoscopy.

INTRODUCTION: Improvement in laparoscopic skills requires practicing, and it is mostly beneficial when live animal models are considered for use. Apart from pelvic trainer, dogs and rabbits are used as the animal models for training laparoscopic surgeries at our center. Every effort is made to keep the animals alive after surgery.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: From January 2007 to January 2010, German shepherd dogs and Angora rabbits were selected as the animal models for laparoscopic skill training. Under general anesthesia, trainees performed several laparoscopic surgeries under the supervision of experienced surgeons.
RESULTS: A total number of 72 animals including 54 dogs and 18 rabbits were used for training laparoscopy. In total, some 107 different laparoscopic procedures were performed by trainees including nephrectomy, nephropexy, vesicotomy and vesicorrhaphy, vasectomies, spermatic cord ligation, and unilateral oophrectomy. There were one vascular and two visceral injuries in the rabbit model that were laparoscopically controlled, and conversion to open surgery happened in one case due to the failure in extracting the specimen from the abdominal cavity. Three visceral and six vascular injuries occurred in the canine model. Total mortality was five including three rabbits and two dogs.
CONCLUSIONS: The sacrifice of the animal is important to be avoided from both ethical and technical stand points. Dogs and rabbits are good models for laparoscopic training in urology, and it is possible to keep the animals alive after surgery by close monitoring. We also found the rabbit to be a good model for practicing infantile laparoscopic surgery, as it simulates the real surgery in this difficult age group.