Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois and University of Lausanne

1 ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN JoVE

Medicine

Modified Tail Vein and Penile Vein Puncture for Blood Sampling in the Rat Model

Laura Charlès^1,2,3, Thomas Agius^*4,5, Irina Filz von Reiterdank^*1,2,3,6, Janna Hagedorn^1,2,3, Yanis Berkane^1,2,3,7, Hyshem H. Lancia^1,2,3, Basak E. Uygun^2,3,8, Korkut Uygun^2,3,8, Curtis L. Cetrulo Jr.^1,2,3,9, Mark A. Randolph^1,2,3,9, Alexandre G. Lellouch^1,2,3,8

¹Vascularized Composite Allotransplantation Laboratory, Massachusetts General Hospital, ²Harvard Medical School, ³Shriners Children’s Boston, ⁴Center for Engineering in Medicine and Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, ⁵Department of Vascular Surgery, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois and University of Lausanne, ⁶Department of Plastic, Reconstructive and Hand Surgery, University Medical Center Utrecht, ⁷Department of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery, Rennes University Hospital Center (CHU de Rennes), Rennes 1 University, ⁸Center for Engineering in Medicine and Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, ⁹Plastic Surgery Research Laboratory, Massachusetts General Hospital

Here, we present a protocol to offer rapid, easy, and reliable blood collection alternatives for the rat model. We describe three different blood sampling methods according to the context: tail vein puncture under anesthesia or on a conscious animal, and dorsal penile vein puncture under anesthesia.