DATE: February 9, 2017
TIME: 3:00pm PT, 6:00pm ET

A colony of woodchucks were to be used on studies which involved repeated IV dosing and/or multiple blood collection time points. Some of the animals were wild-caught, most were aggressive, and all were challenging to handle or restrain for venipuncture. Therefore, all venipuncture had to be performed under anesthesia. Because of the frequency of vascular access required for the studies, we decided to place vascular access ports (VAPs) to allow IV dosing and blood collection without anesthesia. We incorporated knowledge and experience obtained in-house from implanting ports in other species and information from collaborators who worked with ported woodchucks to develop a successful Woodchuck VAP model. We placed arterial and venous ports in 70 woodchucks with patency extending up to 23 months. This poster will provide an overview of the surgical procedure and some unique aspects of this procedure in woodchucks.