Pancreatic Diabetes in the Rabbit. ∗

Abstract

The diffuse distribution of the pancreas in the rabbit and the attending problems of surgical removal have prevented the study of pancreatic diabetes in this animal. In fact, it has been pointed out that “in rabbits the operation itself is impossible, because of the spread-out condition of the pancreas.” 1 However, a method for complete pancreatectomy is presented here together with data pertaining to insulin requirements, glycosuria, blood sugar levels, etc.

The pancreas in general, is a thin sheet of tissue lying in the meso-duodenum with one large mass on the right between the portal vein and the vena cava and another mass in the mesentery of the spleen.

At operation it is essential to use a Beebe binocular loupe to pick up the small fragments of pancreas which break off and to prevent injury to small intestinal blood vessels. For rabbits of about 2 kilos the anesthetic used is 1 cc. of nembutal intravenously, 0.2 cc. of 1% atropine subcutaneously and sufficient ether at the beginning to allow opening of the abdomen.

Complete removal of the pancreas at one operation usually results in a very high mortality in from 24 to 60 hours from severe diarrhea, gastric detension, surgical shock, or unknown causes. A 3-stage operation with 3-4 weeks intervening between operations gives very satisfactory results. Three different abdominal incisions are used; for the first stage, about 1 inch to the left of the mid-line; for the second, a mid-line, and for the third about 1 inch to the right of the mid-line. Twenty-day chromic catgut size 00 is used for closing the abdomen.

In the first stage, all pancreas in a pocket formed roughly by the transverse colon, stomach and duodenum is removed. A splenectomy may be done by ligating and sectioning the larger vessels, or the pancreas can be gently pulled off from the splenic vessels.