INSTITUTIONAL ANIMAL CARE AND USE COMMITTEE (IACUC)
Guideline: Survival Surgery/Anesthesia Record keeping for Rodents
Record keeping demonstrates both protocol compliance and animal welfare, and can aide in
detecting surgical or anesthetic trends. The Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals
states “Medical records are a key element of the veterinary care program and are considered
critical for documenting animal well-being as well as tracking animal care and use at a facility.”
(p. 115)
The following guidelines have been developed to assist with record keeping practices:
1. Records: Records documenting any survival surgery and any anesthetic procedure
lasting longer than 15 minutes are to be retained by the lab. The following information
must be included in the records:

PI name and Protocol number

Title of procedure performed (e.g. craniotomy, MRI)

Name or Initials of person performing the procedure

Animal/Cage ID, species, and total number of animals

Name and dose/dosage of all agents administered before, during, and after
anesthesia and/or surgery. This includes anesthetics, analgesics, therapeutics,
and any experimental agents delivered. Times that agents were administered

Date, and start time of the procedure.

Any complications (e.g. respiratory distress, bleeding, prolonged recovery or
unanticipated mortality) that occurred during or after the procedure.

If protocol-approved analgesics are to be administered on an “as needed”/ “PRN”
schedule, note when analgesics administration is discontinued (e.g. no signs of
pain or “NSOP”, no additional analgesics required) and the time of post-op
check.

Labs may use the IACUC Surgery/Anesthesia Record Template 1, IACUC
Surgery/Anesthesia Record Template 2, IACUC Anesthesia Record Template or
create their own, as long as the above information is included.
2. Storage and retention: Records may be stored either in binders or digital databases.
They must be neat, organized, and legible, and made available for review by the IACUC
upon request. All rodent anesthesia and surgery records must be retained for a minimum
of 1 year.
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3. Protocol Congruency: Records must be congruent with anesthetic, surgical, and
monitoring procedures described in the protocol. When writing or modifying the IACUC
protocol:

Provide flexibility when choosing anesthetics and analgesics whenever possible.
List all drugs you might possibly use – drugs may occasionally become
unavailable, so it’s best to have an alternative.

Give yourself some flexibility in drug administration time intervals. Leave a time
range for how often the medication is given (e.g. 6-8 hours post-procedure).

Submit a protocol modification before making changes to the procedure or to
personnel performing the procedure
4. Abbreviations: Make sure to use well known medical abbreviations. Abbreviating drug
names can lead to confusion. Refer to the IACUC medical abbreviation chart.
5. Formatting: Format should be easy to follow and include the information listed above.
Templates for records are available on both the IACUC and LARC websites. Tailoring
the template to the protocol is strongly encouraged.
6. Resources: Contact the IACUC office at 415-476-2197 with questions or for assistance.
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