[The endotracheal intubation of rabbits with xylazine and ketamine (author's transl)].

The intubation of rabbits is difficult. This is due to the anatomical structure of these animals. We intubated 40 New Zealand rabbits with a body weight of 2.0 to 2.8 kg with endotracheal tubes of an inner diameter 3.0 to 3.5 mm. Premedicating agents were Xylazine 1 ml/kg and Atropine 0.25 mg/kg. For induction of anaesthesia we used Ketamine in a dilution of 5 mg/ml and in dosages of 2.5 to 5.0 mg/kg. The intubation was performed with the aid of a Foregger childrens laryngoscope and a Wis-Hippel blade. For maintenance of anaesthesia we used a mixture of nitrous oxide/oxygen administered through a Kuhn system. In addition to this inhalation anesthetic Ketamine 1 to 2 mg was injected intermittently i.v. The recovery time with this method was extremely short in comparison to the use of intramuscular injections of Ketamine as monoanesthetic.