Record KeepingSurgical Record Keeping

Investigators are responsible for maintaining accurate records of anesthesia, surgery, analgesic administration and postoperative care. In addition to providing a valuable record of experimental procedures that may be referred to at a later date, surgical records serve as documentation that the procedures were conducted humanely and by appropriately trained individuals. Information on groups of rodents treated similarly (e.g., same surgical procedure on the same day) may be entered on a single medical record. Records must be kept in or near the animal room readily available for inspection by veterinary staff and IACUC oversight.

Information to include on Surgical Records:

  • Date of surgery
  • Name of surgeon
  • Animal identification i.e., number or group name
  • A description of the surgical procedure*
  • Name(s), dosage(s) and route(s) of anesthetic and analgesic drugs administered
  • Names and dosages of experimental agents administered
  • Post-operative monitoring that clearly documents daily observation and health status
  • Medical treatments administered during or after surgery

*Surgical records should be kept in a notebook. It is strongly recommended that a detailed description of each surgical procedure be kept in the front of the notebook. Rather than rewriting the surgical description on each record, provide the name of the procedure that corresponds to the description provided in the front of the notebook. Also record any deviation from the detailed description.

Templates for surgical and post operative records are available from the ARP.

Proceed to Anesthesia and Analgesia