Acute closed-chest canine model for anaesthesia research.

An acute closed-chest canine model may be useful to study a wide variety of hypotheses relevant to cardiovascular physiology and pharmacology in circumstances which are clinically relevant. The absence of anatomical perturbations allows recovery of the subjects for conservation of animal resources and to serve as their own controls. The use of a chronic tracheostomy has facilitated inhalation anaesthesia without the use of other agents and allows easy access to the trachea in awake animals with minimal adverse effects. A thorough understanding of the techniques utilized aids in the interpretation of results obtained with this as with any other model.