Refinement Database

Database on Refinement of Housing, Husbandry, Care, and Use of Animals in Research

This database, created in 2000, is updated every four months with newly published scientific articles, books, and other publications related to improving or safeguarding the welfare of animals used in research.

Tips for using the database:

  • This landing page displays all of the publications in the database.
  • Use the drop-down menus to filter these publications by Animal Type, Setting, and/or Topic.
  • Clicking on a parent category (e.g., Rodent) will include publications relating to all the items in that category (e.g., Chinchilla, Gerbil, Guinea Pig, etc.).
  • You may also add a keyword to further narrow your search.
  • Please note that at this time, only publications dated 2010 or later (with some exceptions) can be filtered by Animal Type and Topic, and only publications dated 2020 or later (with some exceptions) can be filtered by Setting. Most publications older than 2010 can only be searched by keyword. 
Schuster, C. J., Pang, D. S. J. 2018. Forced-air pre-warming prevents peri-anaesthetic hypothermia and shortens recovery in adult rats. Laboratory Animals 52(2), 142-151.

General anaesthesia disrupts thermoregulation in mammals, which can cause hypothermia. Decreases in core body temperature of 1℃ cause significant postoperative complications in humans, and peri-anaesthetic hypothermia in mice increases data variability, which can potentially increase...

Khoo, S. Y.-S., Lay, B. P. P., Joya, J. et al. 2018. Local anaesthetic refinement of pentobarbital euthanasia reduces abdominal writhing without affecting immunohistochemical endpoints in rats. Laboratory Animals 52(2), 152-162.

Sodium pentobarbital is a commonly used agent for euthanizing laboratory rats, however its high pH can cause abdominal discomfort after intraperitoneal injection. Previous studies suggest that the addition of a local anaesthetic may alleviate this...

Hankenson, F. C., Marx, J. O., Gordon, C. J. et al. 2018. Effects of rodent thermoregulation on animal models in the research environment. Comparative Medicine 68(6), 425–438.

To best promote animal wellbeing and the efficacy of biomedical models, scientific, husbandry, and veterinary professionals must consider the mechanisms, influences, and outcomes of rodent thermoregulation in contemporary research environments. Over the last 2 decades...

Hawkins, P., McBride, A., Paiba, G. et al. 2018. Report of the 2017 RSPCA/UFAW Rodent and Rabbit Welfare Group meeting. Animal Technology and Welfare 17(2), 75-83. [Meeting Report]

The RSPCA/UFAW Rodent (and now Rabbit) Welfare Group held a one-day meeting on 14 November 2017 in Weybridge, UK. The first session addressed meeting animals' needs and aiming for a 'good life', with the needs...

Reupke, V., Walliser, K., Perl, T. et al. 2017. Total intravenous anaesthesia using propofol and sufentanil allows controlled long-term ventilation in rabbits without neuromuscular blocking agents. Laboratory Animals 51(3), 284-291.

The aim of this study was to evaluate a total intravenous anaesthesia (TIVA) protocol using propofol and sufentanil without neuromuscular blocking agents (NBAs) for a non-recovery lung pathology study in rabbits including 10 h of...

Zhang, E. Q., Knight, C. G., Pang, D. S. J. 2017. Heating pad performance and efficacy of 2 durations of warming after isoflurane anesthesia of Sprague–Dawley rats (Rattus norvegicus). JAALAS 56(6), 786-791.

Anesthetic agents depress thermoregulatory mechanisms, causing hypothermia within minutes of induction of general anesthesia. The consequences of hypothermia include delayed recovery and increased experimental variability. Even when normothermia is maintained during anesthesia, hypothermia may occur...

Williams, M. D., Long, C. T., Durrant, J. R. et al. 2017. Oral transmucosal detomidine gel in New Zealand White rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus). JAALAS 56(4), 436-442.

Handling and restraining rabbits for routine procedures may be impossible without prior sedation, result in unnecessary stress or injury to the rabbit or handler, and increase experimental variability. Parenteral administration of sedatives can cause stress...

Wilding, L. A., Hampel, J. A., Khoury, B. M. et al. 2017. Benefits of 21% oxygen compared with 100% oxygen for delivery of isoflurane to mice (Mus musculus) and rats (Rattus norvegicus). JAALAS 56(2), 148-154.

At research institutions, isoflurane delivered by precision vaporizer to a face mask is the standard for rodent surgery and for procedures with durations that exceed a few minutes. Pure oxygen is often used as the...

Pinnell, R. C., Almajidy, R. K., Hofmann, U. G. 2016. Versatile 3-D printed headstage implant for group housing of rodents. Journal of Neuroscience Methods 257, 134-138.

An unfavourable yet necessary side-effect of stereotaxic surgery involves the social isolation of post-surgery rats, in order to protect their wound site or skull-mounted implant from damage. Social isolation can cause a myriad of behavioural...

Miller, A. L., Golledge, H. D. R., Leach, M. C. 2016. The influence of isoflurane anaesthesia on the rat grimace scale. PLOS ONE 11(11), e0166652.

Over 234,000 rats were used in regulated procedures in the UK in 2014, many of which may have resulted in some degree of pain. When using animals in research, there is an ethical and legal...

Moheban, A. A., Chang, H. H., Havton, L. A. 2016. The suitability of propofol compared with urethane for anesthesia during urodynamic studies in rats. JAALAS 55(1), 89–94.

Urethane anesthesia preserves many reflex functions and is often the preferred anesthetic for urodynamic studies in rats. Because of the toxicity profile of urethane, its use as an anesthetic typically is limited to acute and...

Hawkins, P. 2014. Refining housing, husbandry and care for animals used in studies involving biotelemetry. Animals 4(2), 361-373.

Biotelemetry can contribute towards reducing animal numbers and suffering in disciplines including physiology, pharmacology and behavioural research. However, the technique can also cause harm to animals, making biotelemetry a ‘refinement that needs refining’. Current welfare...

Tardif, S. D., Bales, K., Williams, L. et al. 2006. Preparing New World monkeys for laboratory research. ILAR Journal 47(4), 307-315.

New World monkeys represent an important but often poorly understood research resource. The relatively small size and low zoonotic risk of these animals make them appealing as research subjects in a number of areas. However...