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Office of Animal Care and Use
Phone: (919) 966-5569
Fax: (919) 966-8429
CB 7193
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7193
iacuc@med.unc.edu
Any cutting into vertebrae requires anesthesia regardless of age. You must provide scientific justification if you need to do the procedure without anesthesia. Removal of
2mm or less does not involve the vertebral column and does not require anesthesia regardless of age. This procedure may not be performed more than twice on the same animal without permission from the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee.
ANIMAL PREPARATION
The distal 2cm of the tail is disinfected with betadine solution or another acceptable surgical solution.
PROCEDURE
Using a sharp sterile scalpel blade or scissors, cut a small portion of tail measuring from the tip toward the base of the tail. Never remove more than 0.5 cm. Normally hemostasis can be achieved by direct pressure on the tip of the tail. A cautery pen, styptic powder, styptic gel or a silver nitrate stick may be used if bleeding continues. Do not return the mouse to his home cage until the bleeding has stopped. This procedure can be performed a maximum of two times up to the maximum 0.5 cm total.
The animal should be observed during recovery to ensure bleeding has stopped.