Care of rodent models used for preclinical evaluation of tissue-engineered/regenerative medicine product candidates.

: The pre-, peri-, and postoperative care of animal surgical models used for testing tissue engineering/regenerative medicine product candidates includes the thoughtful consideration of several important factors. It must ensure the health and comfort of the animals and the success and reproducibility of the model. In order to reduce the number of animals needed in creating the model and to reduce costs, a preliminary evaluation of surgical procedures and instruments should be performed on cadavers. Once a minimal level of proficiency has been acquired, non-survival surgeries should be executed successfully before attempting survival surgeries. Planning ahead is crucial and will involve all aspects of the animal's care such as allowing the animal to become accustomed to soft foods (as in the case of gastrointestinal surgeries), planning appropriate pain management, and the use of positive reinforcement. We present specific examples of pre-, peri- and post-operative care of rodents using our experiences in developing tissue engineering products for kidney, esophagus, small intestine and lung.