• Melissa Martenson, James Houts, Mary Heinricher, and Bryan Ogden.
• Department of Neurological Surgery, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon 97239, USA.
• Contemp Top Lab Anim Sci. 2005 Mar 1; 44 (2): 46-8.

AbstractThe typical setup for administering volatile anesthetics to laboratory rats does not provide for humidification of the inspired gases, although it is known that failing to provide humidification can lead to airway inflammation and impaired pulmonary function during prolonged experimental protocols. We developed a simple humidification system in which a nebulizer was inserted into the nonrebreathing circuit used with a standard isoflurane vaporizer. We show here that the nebulizer system resulted in anesthetic stability, as measured by withdrawal reflex latency. Although the isoflurane concentration in the delivered gases was reduced, the reduction was a consistent percentage of the vaporizer output throughout the anesthetic range, thereby permitting straightforward adjustment of the vaporizer output.

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