Ventral Approach to the Rat Middle Ear for Otologic Research

Abstract

The ventral approach to the rat middle ear is a rapid and simple technique that makes the rat the animal of choice for many otologic investigations.

Cochlear implantation in rats: A new surgical approach

“…It rises from the internal carotid artery (Hellstrom, 1998), and enters the tympanic cavity ventrally, runs along the base of the cochlea and through the crura of the stapes (Albiin et al, 1985;Govaerts et al, 1993;Hebel and Stromberg, 1986). Many authors have stated that the artery must be preserved in order to preserve hearing or even survival of the animal (Praetorius et al, 2001;Pinilla et al, 2001;Yamamoto et al, 2003). In our investigation, the animals not only survived cauterizing the SA, but cochlear structures ipsilateral to the cauterized SA, appeared well preserved (Fig.…”

“…The reasons for this difficulty includes: i) relatively smaller size of the rat cochlea; ii) the difficulty in developing such a small multiple channel scala tympani electrode array; and iii) the presence of the stapedial or pterygopalatine artery (SA), located in the middle ear cavity (Govaerts et al, 1993;Judkins and Li, 1997;Praetorius et al, 2001;Pinilla et al, 2001;Yamamoto et al, 2003), severely reducing surgical access to the scala tympani. Moreover, the majority of reports that described cochlear implantation in the rat used a single 75μm (dia.)…”

Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection in the hypoventilated middle ear: An experimental model

“…Rats can be handled by a single operator and surgical techniques have been described for obstructing the Eustachian tube of the rat [16]. The techniques for approaching the middle ear [7] and cauterizing the Eustachian tube [8] have previously been used by our group, with optimal results.…”

“…All procedures were performed under sterile conditions. A ventral approach was made to the tympanic bulla, as described previously [7], and 0.04 ml of the described solution (6.4 )/10 7 CFU in total) was inoculated.…”

Anti-adhesive properties of polytetrafluoroethylene (Gore-Tex®) in middle ear surgery. An experimental study

“…Under general anaesthesia and aseptic conditions a ventral approach was made to the right middle ear through the tympanic bulla [12]. A PTFE fragment was placed in the space bordered by the promontory, stapes and tympanic membrane, without using any adhesive to fix it to the surrounding structures.…”